WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Roland Lee Bowser, 20, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for March 21, 2025.
Bowser’s family recently received their full briefing on is identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In November 1950, Bowser was assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 2, after his battalion's fighting-withdrawal from Unsan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea. After the war, returning prisoners reported that Bowser died in captivity at Camp 5 in Pyoktong, North Korea, in early June 1951.
In 1954, during Operation Glory, the United Nations Command received a set of remains reportedly recovered from Camp 5 and later designated Unknown X-14343. They were transported to the Central Identification Unit (CIU) at Kokura, Japan, for examination but could not be positively identified. In late 1956, all unidentified remains from the CIU, including X-14343, were buried as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In October 2019, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On Aug. 5, 2019, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-14343 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and accessioned the remains into the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Bowser, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological, and chest radiograph analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis and mitochondrial genome sequencing data.
Bowser’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.
Bowser will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, 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 Bowser’s initial ID announcement here: Bowser.