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ID Announcements

Press Release | March 1, 2023

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Wynn, M.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Master Sgt. Merritt L. Wynn, 31, of St. Louis, Missouri, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Aug. 26, 2022.

In late 1950, Wynn was a member of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 26, while during fighting with the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces east of Unsan, North Korea. Wynn was awarded the Silver Star for his leadership and bravery that day. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered, and there is no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war. Wynn was declared nonrecoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.

On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Wynn’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological, and isotope analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Wynn’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Wynn will be buried in Centralia, Illinois, on a date yet to be determined.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

To see the most up-to-date statistics on DPAA recovery efforts for those unaccounted for from the Korean War, go to the Korean War Accounting page on the DPAA website at: https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaFamWebKorean.

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 find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.

Wynn’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000Ca6uuEAB.