The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the
remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and
will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Francis J. Reimer, 19, of St. Cloud, Minn., will be buried Sept. 8, in his
hometown. In late November 1950, Reimer and elements of the 31st Regimental Combat Team,
known as “Task Force Faith,” were advancing along the eastern banks of the Chosin Reservoir, in
North Korea. After coming under attack, they began a fighting withdrawal to positions near
Hagaru-ri, south of the reservoir. During this withdrawal Reimer went missing.
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of remains
believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. service members. North Korean documents,
turned over with some of the boxes, indicated that some of the human remains were recovered
from the area where Reimer was last seen.
Scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA
Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, such as
mitochondrial DNA–which matched Reimer’s mother and sister—in the identification of the
remains.
Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were
previously turned over by North Korean officials. Today, more than 7,900 Americans remain
unaccounted for from the Korean War.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing
Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.