WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. Gudmund C. Johnson, Jr., 22, of Red Wing, Minnesota, who was captured and died in captivity during the Korean War, was accounted for August 27, 2019.
(This identification was initially published Aug. 29, 2019.)
In November 1950, Johnson was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on Nov. 28, 1950, near Unsan, North Korea, and held at Prisoner of War Camp 5, where he reportedly died in July 1951. His remains were subsequently declared non-recoverable.
In September 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp 5, to the United Nations Command. One set of remains, Unknown X-14693, could not be identified and were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In April 2018, the Department of Defense disinterred X-14693 and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Johnson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Army for their partnership in this mission.
Today, 7,608 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by Korean officials, recovered from Korea by American recovery teams, or disinterred from unknown graves. Johnson’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
For family information, contact the Army Service Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Johnson will be buried Nov. 9, 2019, in his hometown.
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.
Johnson’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000009QMQ7EAO