WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. Carlos E. Ferguson, 20, of Dawson, West Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Feb. 4, 2019.
(This identification was initially announced on Feb. 8, 2019.)
In May 1951, Ferguson was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, engaged in combat against the Korean People’s Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces. The battle, fought near Hangye, South Korea, from May 16-20, was named the “Battle of the Soyang River.” Ferguson was reported missing in action on May 18, 1951.
On June 16, 1951, a set of remains located in the vicinity of where Ferguson was lost, arrived at the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan. The remains, designated X-1356 Tanggok, could not be identified, and were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, where they were buried as an Unknown.
In October 2018, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-1356 Tanggok from the Punchbowl, and sent the remains to the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Ferguson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
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. Ferguson’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.
Ferguson will be buried May 18, 2019, in Grassy Meadows, West Virginia.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or call (703) 699-1420/1169.
Ferguson’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000004nuyEAA