WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. Carmen Carrillo, 20, of Lompoc, California, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Feb. 3, 2023.
In spring 1951, Carrillo was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on May 17 after fighting against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces in Gangwon Hongchun, Republic of Korea (R.O.K). There is no indication his remains were recovered after the battle and he was never recorded as a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953, and his remains were determined to be nonrecoverable in January 1956.
In 2013 the Ministry of National Defense Agency for Killed in Action Recovery and Identification recovered multiple sets of remains near Gangwon Hongchun, R.O.K., which is consistent with the area associated with Carrillo. Six sets of remains were transferred to the United States, believed to belong to U.S. Service Members.
The remains were disinterred on Sept. 22, 2021, and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii for analysis.
To identify Carrillo’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Carrillo’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.
Carrillo will be buried in his hometown 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 fact sheet on the DPAA website at: https://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/Article/569610/progress-on-korean-war-personnel-accounting/
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.
Carrillo’s personnel profile can be viewed at: https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000004p3tEAA.