WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Donald J. Burmingham, 22, of Redfield, New York, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for July 17, 2025.
Burmingham's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In September 1950, Burmingham was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was reported missing in action on Sept. 6, in the vicinity of Waegwan, South Korea, near the Naktong River. Lacking evidence and eyewitness reports of his survival, the Army issued a presumptive finding of death for Burmingham on Dec. 31, 1953.
On March 27, 1951, the American Graves Registration Service Group recovered remains designated Unknown X-806 and four other sets near Waegwan. In 1956, after failing to link X-806 to any missing Korean War casualty, the remains were declared unidentifiable on Jan. 16 and interred as a Korean War Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In October 2019, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In Dec. 2022, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-806 as part of Phase Four of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and accessioned the remains into the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Burmingham, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph comparison and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis and mitochondrial genome sequencing data.
Burmingham’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.
Burmingham will be buried in October 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 Burmingham’s initial ID announcement here: Burmingham.