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News Release

Press Release | Nov. 20, 2015

Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Ivey)

The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Cpl. Charles E. Ivey, 21, of Henderson, N.C., will be buried Nov. 29 in his hometown. On Nov. 29, 1950, Ivey was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near Hajoyang, North Korea. During this battle, Ivey was declared missing in action.

In September 1953, as part of a prisoner of war exchange known as “Operation Big Switch,” returning American soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war reported that Ivey had died Nov. 29, 1950, during the battle near Hajoyang. A military review board amended his status to deceased in March 1953.

Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea returned 208 boxes of commingled human remains to the United States, which we now believe to contain the remains of at least 600 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents included in the repatriation indicate that some of the remains were recovered from the vicinity where Ivey was believed to have died.

In the identification of Ivey’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence, dental comparison, and forensic identification tools, including mitochondrial DNA analysis and autosomal (nuclear) DNA testing, which matched two sisters.

Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered by American recovery teams.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or call (703) 699-1420.