The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today
that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and
will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. Jerry P. Craig, 17, of Panhandle, Texas, will be buried Dec. 19, in Leesville,
La. In November 1950, Craig was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd
Infantry Regimental Combat Team (RCT). From Nov. 27 to Dec. 2, while deployed along the
eastern bank of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, the 31st RCT was attacked by Chinese
forces, causing them to begin a fighting withdrawal south to a more defensible position.
Following the fighting, Craig was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950.
In 1954, Chinese and North Korean Communist forces exchanged the remains of war dead
with the United Nations forces during Operation Glory. The following year a military review
board declared many of the remains as unidentifiable and they were transferred to be buried as
unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, known as the
“Punchbowl.”
Due to advances in technology, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting
Command (JPAC) in 2012 determined that the possibility of identifying the remains was likely at
that time. The unknown remains were disinterred for analysis and identification.
To identify Craig’s remains, scientists from JPAC used circumstantial evidence and
forensic identification tools, such as dental comparisons and radiograph comparisons, which
matched Craig’s records.
Today, 7,898 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern
technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by
North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American teams.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing
Americans, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.