WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. David Eugene Hardy, 20, of Cascade, Virginia, who died while a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for Sept. 27, 2024.
Hardy's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1950, Hardy was assigned to Headquarters Battery, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery – Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after the 2nd Infantry Division's withdrawal from Kunu-ri to Sunchon, North Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, a POW from Sgt. Hardy’s unit was returned during Operation Big Switch, and reported that Hardy died on Feb. 28, 1951, while a prisoner at POW Camp #5, Pyoktong, North Korea.
In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation Glory, Chinese Communist Forces returned remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong to the United Nations Command. None were associated with Hardy.
One set of remains returned from Camp #5 during Operation Glory, which could not be identified, were designated Unknown X-14527 and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On Dec. 9, 2019, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-14527 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Hardy’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA and mitochondrial genome sequencing analysis.
Hardy’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s 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.
Hardy will be buried in Eden, North Carolina, in March 2025.
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.
DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission and the United States Army for their partnership in this mission.
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.
Hardy’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000cCRK9EAO.
Read Hardy's initial ID announcement here: Hardy.