WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Howard A. Troup, 29, of Ford City, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Nov. 20, 2024.
Troup’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the fall of 1950, Troup was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action during a battle in the vicinity of Hill 409, near Am-sin, South Korea, when enemy forces attacked and overran his company's defensive positions on Sept. 1. A statement from a member of his unit said he was likely killed by a grenade during an all-out “banzai” attack. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death in December 1953.
In August 1951, remains were recovered by the American Graves Registration Service Group (AGRSG), the unit tasked with finding and identifying those missing during the war, near the village of Tae-Dong. Further analysis determined there was actually two sets of remains. One set of remains was identified in 1953, but the other, designated Unknown X-1924-A, could not be identified and was ultimately buried as an Unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu in 1956.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On May 3, 2021, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-1924-A as part of Phase Three of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Troup’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph comparison, isotope analysis and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Troup’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.
Troup will be buried in Ford City, Pennsylvania in June 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.
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.
Troup’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000kZINDEA4.
Read Troup’s initial ID announcement here: Troup.