Washington –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Robert P. Raess, 21, of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, reported missing in action during the Korean War, was accounted for March 26, 2024.
In late 1950, Raess was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Sept. 1, 1950, near Changnyeong, South Korea. The Army officially declared Raess deceased on Dec. 31, 1953, and declared his remains non-recoverable Jan. 16, 1956.
In Jan. 1951, the American Graves Registration Service Group (AGRSG) consolidated the remains from 12 smaller military cemeteries at the newly established United Nations Military Cemetery in Tanggok, South Korea, including one set of remains designated X-1578 Tanggok, which had been recovered from the area where Raess was last seen. In 1956, the remains, including X-1578 Tanggok, were unable to be identified, and then transported to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu where they were buried as Unknowns.
In July 2018, the Department of Defense (DoD) approved a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the NMPC across various phases. On April 19, 2021, the remains of X-1578 Tanggok were disinterred and sent to the DPAA Laboratory as part of Phase 3.
To identify Raess’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Raess’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.
Raess will be buried in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, on Sept. 7, 2024.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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) 699-1420/1193.
Raess’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000004ljYEAQ.