The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, killed during the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. Everett E. Johnson, 21, of Cincinnati, will be buried May 29 in Madisonville, Ohio. On Sept. 3, 1950, Johnson was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division located near Taegu, South Korea. Johnson’s company was cut off by enemy penetrations and withdrew to join the rest of the battalion. During the course of the enemy attack, Johnson was killed by enemy fire.
In May 1951, an unidentified set of remains, previously recovered from a mass grave near Pultang, South Korea, was buried in the Tanggok United Nations Military Cemetery and labeled “Unknown X-1072.” No identification of X-1072 could be made, and the remains were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii as an Unknown.
In Dec. 2014, the Department of Defense approved the disinterment of “Unknown X-1072.” The remains were disinterred May 16, 2016 were sent to the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Johnson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used circumstantial and anthropological evidence, as well as dental and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his records.
Today, 7,747 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using advances in technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American 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, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.