An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

News Release

Press Release | April 16, 2019

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Hyman, R.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Capt. Rufus J. Hyman, 23, of Memphis, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Feb. 20, 2019.

(This identification was initially announced on Feb. 22, 2019.)

In July 1950, Hyman was an infantry officer with Company A, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, engaging in combat actions against the North Korean People’s Army in the vicinity of Kwonbin-ni, South Korea. Hyman was declared missing in action on July 30, 1950.

In July 1951, a Search and Recovery Team from the American Registration Service Group recovered an isolated burial in the vicinity of where Hyman was last seen. The remains were designated X-1575 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-1575 from the Punchbowl for identification.

To identify Hyman’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. Hyman’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.
For future funeral details, visit www.dpaa.mil

Hyman will be buried Oct. 9, 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.

Hyman’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000BFeG0EAL