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News & Stories
News | March 9, 2017

Soldier Missing from Korean War Accounted For (Quintana)

Army Pfc. Manuel M. Quintana, missing from the Korean War, has now been identified.



In late July 1950, Quintana was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, when his unit was ordered to move toward Hadong. The regiment unexpectedly encountered enemy forces, who quickly overpowered the American forces. Following the battle, Quintana could not be accounted for and was declared missing in action as of July 27, 1950.



Following the war, no returning American prisoners of war were able to provide any information concerning Quintana's status.



In December 1950, a set of unidentified remains was recovered from a grave near Chinuju-Hadong Highway. Those remains were buried in the Masan United Nations Military Cemetery as Unknown X-183. In 1951, the graves at Masan cemetery were exhumed and transferred to the U.S. Army's Central Identification Unit (CIU) in Kokura, Japan, for identification.



Several attempts were made to associate X-183 with unresolved casualties, however with limited technology the remains could be attributed to 41 possibilities. September 1955 it was determined the remains were "unidentifiable" and were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, known as the "Punchbowl."



In December 2014, a family member requested the disinterment of Unknown X-183 based on documents identifying another soldier with tentative association. In May 2016, the grave was exhumed and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.



DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence were used in the identification of his remains.



Interment services are pending.


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Public Affairs Contact Information


Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency PAO
Washington, D.C.
2300 Defense Pentagon
Attn: Outreach and Communications
Washington, D.C. 20301-2300
Email: dpaa.ncr.oc.mbx.public-affairs@mail.mil