WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Walter Archie Ross Jr., 29, of St. Louis, Missouri, who died in captivity during the Korean War, was accounted for June 7, 2024.
Ross's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In early 1951, Ross was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on 14 February 1951, after his unit engaged the Chinese Communist Forces near Sang-nok, South Korea and the division's defensive positions were attacked and overrun.
Following the war, two repatriated U.S. POWs indicated that Ross was captured by the CCF, and while in Captivity died from dysentery in April 1951 at the Suan POW Camp Complex in North Korea. Ross remained unaccounted for and determined to be nonrecoverable in January 1956.
In 1994, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea government, unilaterally turned over 14 boxes of remains believed to be those of U.S. service members. Documentation accompanying those remains indicated that the remains in box 3 were exhumed from Suan County. This information correlates with Ross' last reported location at the Suan POW Camp Complex.
To identify Ross’s remains, scientists from DPAA used DNA, dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph and other circumstantial evidence.
Ross’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.
Ross will be buried in Missouri, 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 their country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, https://www.linkedin.com/company/dodpaa, https://www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or https://x.com/dodpaa.
Read Ross's initial ID announcement here: Ross.