Washington –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Raymond E. Hall, 40, of Mt Ash, Kentucky, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for May 10, 2024.
In July 1950, Hall was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was originally reported missing in action on July 31, after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions against North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) forces in the vicinity of Sunchon, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Hall had actually been captured by enemy forces and was being transported north with other POWs, when NKPA guards suddenly executed him and 65 other U.S. POWs in what would be called the “Suncheon Tunnel Massacre.” The remains of the men were found by U.S. forces the following day and were transported to the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Pyongyang for temporary interment. Hall was initially identified by FBI fingerprint comparison while at UNMC, but Pyongyang had to be evacuated to due to enemy activity and his remains were not recovered.
Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-17101 OP GLORY, was not accompanied by any clothing, personal effects, or any identification media. While Hall had been previously identified, U.S. Army Central Identification investigators could not correlate X-17101 with Hall at the time. Those remains were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In Aug. 2017, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown X-17101 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
To identify Hall’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph comparison and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Hall’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, 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.
Hall will be buried in Calverton, New York, on Oct. 21, 2024.
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, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.
Hall’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000myvXEAQ.