WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. Benjamin W. Scott, 19, of Alamo, Mississippi, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Feb. 20, 2019.
(This identification was initially announced on Feb. 26, 2019.)
In July 1950, Scott was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, engaging in combat actions against the North Korean forces in the vicinity of Choch’iwon, South Korea. Scott was declared missing in action on July 12, 1950.
In May 1952, remains were found in the vicinity of where Scott was last seen. The remains were designated X-5556 Tanggok and were sent to the Central Identification Unit in Japan for identification. Unable to be identified, the remains were sent to the National Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, and buried as an Unknown.
On Oct. 30, 2017, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-5556 from the Punchbowl for identification.
To identify Scott’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.
Today, 7,662 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. Scott’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 family contact information, contact the Army Service Casualty office at (800) 892-2490.
Scott will be buried April 13, 2019, in Atwood, Tennessee.
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.
Scott’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000095DNDEA2