Marine Accounted for from Korean War (Fairchild, R.)

Release No: 19-201 Oct. 28, 2019
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WASHINGTON — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Marine Corps Pfc. Ray P. Fairchild, 21, of Salyersville, Kentucky, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for July 29, 2019.

(This identification was initially published Oct. 3, 2019.)

In late 1950, Fairchild was a member of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He was killed in action Nov. 27, 1950, near the town of Yudam-ni, west of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the war his remains could not be recovered.

In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea and the United States Command exchanged the remains of casualties. One set of remains, designated Unknown X-13474 Yudam-ni could not be identified and were subsequently buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

On May 11, 2012, the Joint Personnel Accounting Command (a predecessor to DPAA) disinterred X-13474 Yunam-ni and accessioned the remains to the laboratory.

To identify Fairchild’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) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the United States Marine Corps for their partnership in this mission.

Today, 7,607 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. Fairchild’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 information, contact the Marine Corps Service Casualty Office at (800) 847-1597.

Fairchild will be buried Nov. 23, 2019, in his hometown.

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.

Fairchild’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000001Wb3qEAC