WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Oscar L. Sprague, 22, of Milbridge, Maine, who was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for April 23, 2025.
Sprague’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In 1950, Sprague was a member of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Sept. 3, 1950, in the vicinity of Yongsan, Republic of Korea (South Korea). He was never reported as a prisoner of war and subsequent searches of the battlefield failed to recover his remains. With no evidence of his continued survival, the Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953. He was declared non-recoverable on Jan 16, 1956.
Following the war, on Sept. 11, 1951, the 565th Graves Registration Company recovered a set of remains from a shallow grave near the Naktong Bulge region of the Pusan Perimeter. The remains, designated Unknown X-1984, could not be positively identified at the time and on Sept. 17, 1954, were declared unidentifiable. On Feb. 14, 1956, Unknown X-1984 was transferred and interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On Oct. 7, 2019, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-1984 as part of Phase Three of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Sprague’s remains, scientists from DPAA used DNA, dental, anthropological, and isotope analysis, as well as chest radiograph and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis and mitochondrial genome sequencing data.
Sprague’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.
Sprague will be buried in his hometown in September 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.
Read Sprague’s initial ID announcement here: Sprague.