Marine Accounted For From Korean War (Crawford, G.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Grady J. Crawford, 21, of Dallas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for May 17, 2019.

(This identification was initially published July 11, 2019.)

In late November 1950, Crawford was a member of Battery M, 4th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, serving in North Korea. He was last seen engaged in combat operations at Yudam-ni, West Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, on Dec. 1, 1950. No lists provided by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces or Korean People’s Army showed Crawford as a prisoner of war and no returning American prisoners reported to have any information on his status. Absent evidence of continued survival, the Department of the Navy declared him deceased as of Oct. 30, 1953.

In September 1954, as part of Operation Glory, where the United Nations Command, Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces and Korean People’s Army exchanged war dead at Munsan-ni, South Korea, the United Nations received remains reported to have been recovered from the west side of the Chosin Reservoir. The remains were sent to the Central Identification Unit for attempted identification. One set, designated X-14896, was declared unidentifiable. They were then transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP,) known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and were interred as Unknown.

In May 2012, following thorough historical and scientific analysis, X-14896 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and sent to the laboratory for analysis.

To identify Crawford’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and skull photograph superimposition analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Today, 7,624 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by Korean officials, recovered from Korea by American recovery teams or disinterred from Unknown graves. Crawford’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl 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 Marine Corps Casualty Office at (800) 847-1597.

Crawford will be buried Sept. 28, 2019 in Dallas, Texas.

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.

Crawford’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000f0p2dEAA