Funeral Announcement For Soldier Missing From The Korean War (Newman, L.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pfc. Lamar E. Newman, 19, of Griffin, Georgia, will be buried March 2 in his hometown. In November 1950, Newman was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, taking part in a defensive operation in the vicinity of the village of Kujang, North Korea. The Division suffered heavy losses, with many Soldiers going missing or being killed or captured. Newman went missing near the village of Kujang as a result of heavy fighting on Nov. 27, 1950.

Throughout the remainder of the war, no lists provided by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) or Korean People’s Army (KPA) listed Newman as a prisoner of war. Additionally, no returning prisoners of war had any information regarding Newman’s status. Following the war, during Operation Glory, the CPVF and KPA returned the remains of more than 2,900 Americans, however no remains were associated with Newman and the U.S. Army declared him non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.

In October 2000, possible human remains from a site south of Unsan were recovered by a U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory (a predecessor to DPAA)/KPA Recovery Team. The remains were determined to have been found in a secondary burial site and were subsequently accessioned into the Central Identification Laboratory (now the DPAA laboratory) in Hawaii for identification.

To identify Newman’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), Y-chromosome (Y-STR) and autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as anthropological analysis, which matched his records, and material evidence.

Today, 7,709 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams. Newman’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.