WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. James B. Brock, 20, of Phoenix, Arizona, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Jan. 29, 2025.
Brock's family recently received their full briefing on is identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In December 1950, Brock was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Brock was reported missing in action after his unit was forced to retreat from Hagaru-ri, North Korea, after the Battle of Jangjin (Chosin) Reservoir. The U.S. Army did not receive any information during or after the war to indicate Brock was ever held as a prisoner of war.
In the fall of 1953, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Changsong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #1, to the United Nations Command. However, Brock could not be identified as any of the repatriated remains. A presumptive finding of death was issued on March 10, 1954. In late 1956 all unidentified remains, including one designated X-15881, were buried as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu, Hawaii, known as the Punchbowl.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In June 2022, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-15881 as part of Phase Four of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Brock’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA and mitochondrial genome sequence analysis.
Brock’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.
Brock will be buried in a location and 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 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.
Brock’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000004PGRREA4.
Read Brock’s initial ID announcement here: Brock.