WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Ray Johnson, 20, of Erick, Oklahoma, who was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for July 9, 2025.
Johnson's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the fall of 1950, Johnson was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Sept. 1 after the enemy attacked his unit’s position near Changyong, 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 Feb. 23, 1954. He was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
In September 1950, following the battle, the 565th Graves Registration Company recovered a set of remains from the Naktong Bulge area of the Pusan Perimeter, near Changyong and interred them in the United Nations Military Cemetery Miryang on Sept. 20, 1950. The remains, designated Unknown X-173, could not be positively identified at the time and were ultimately declared unidentifiable. In 1956, Unknown X-173 was transferred and interred as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
On Aug. 20, 2015, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-173 and accessioned the remains into the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Johnson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological, and radio isotope analysis, as well as a chest radiograph comparison and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis and mitochondrial genome sequencing data.
Johnson’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.
Johnson will be buried in Amarillo, Texas, 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.
Johnson’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000004lduEAA.
Read Johnson's initial ID announcement here: Johnson.