WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from the Korean War, are those of Army Master Sgt. Carl H. Lindquist, 32, of Willmar, Minnesota. Lindquist was accounted for on June 4, 2018.
In late November 1950, Lindquist was a member of Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. The unit, designated the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), engaged with forces of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in a battle on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Lindquist was reported missing in action during the battle, on Nov. 29, 1950.
In 1954, United Nations and communist forces exchanged the remains of war dead in what came to be called “Operation Glory.” All remains recovered in Operation Glory were turned over to the Army’s Central Identification Unit for analysis. None of the recovered remains could be associated with Lindquist and he was declared non-recoverable.
One set of remains returned during Operation Glory were reportedly recovered from an isolated grave on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir. The remains, designated X-15902, were determined to be unidentifiable and were interred as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2013, following thorough historical analysis and research, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-15902 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the lab for identification.
To identify Lindquist’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.
Today, 7,675 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. Lindquist’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the NMCP, along with 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 family contact information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2498.
Lindquist will be buried Aug. 5, 2019, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C.
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) 699-1420/1169.
Lindquist’s personnel file can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000azLqCEAU