Looks like the good men and women at the Joint Personnel Accounting Command have been working overtime lately, and I\u2019ve missed some of their good work.<\/p>\n
Yesterday I wrote about the recovery and identification of three US personnel missing from the Korean War<\/a>.\u00a0 In the past month or so, they\u2019ve also identified several others.<\/p>\n PFC Bobby L. Byars<\/a>, formerly of Griffin, GA, was assigned to the US Army\u2019s 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT).\u00a0 PFC Byars was lost on December 12, 1950, during the retreat of the remnants of the 31st RCT from the Chosin Reservoir.\u00a0 PFC Byars\u2019 remains were among those in 208 boxes of remains repatriated by North Korea between 1991 and 1994.\u00a0 Modern technology recently allowed the positive identification of his remains.\u00a0 He will be buried in his hometown on February 16, 2013.<\/p>\n PFC \u00a0Glenn S. Schoenmann,<\/a> formerly of Tracey City, TN, was assigned to the US Army\u2019s 31st<\/sup> Regimental Combat Team.\u00a0 He was initially reported killed by sniper fire, body not recovered, during an engagement near the east bank of the Chosin Reservoir on December 12, 1950.\u00a0 Interviews with returning POWs in 1953 indicated that Schoenmann had indeed been wounded by sniper fire, but had survived to be taken POW.\u00a0 He later succumbed to a combination of malnutrition and lack of medical care while in captivity.\u00a0 PFC Schoenmann\u2019s remains were among those in 208 boxes of remains repatriated by North Korea between 1991 and 1994.\u00a0 Modern technology recently allowed the positive identification of his remains.\u00a0 He was buried on January 12, 2013, in Palmer, TN.<\/p>\n PFC Ernest V. Fuqua Jr<\/a>., formerly of Detroit, MI, was assigned to the US Army\u2019s 35th Infantry Regiment.\u00a0 \u00a0PFC Fuqua was killed in action, body not recovered, on November 28, 1950 as his unit retreated towards Unsan.\u00a0\u00a0 PFC Fuqua\u2019s remains were among those in 208 boxes of remains repatriated by North Korea between 1991 and 1994.\u00a0 Modern technology recently allowed the positive identification of his remains.\u00a0 He was buried on January 15, 2013, in Rochester Hills,MI.<\/p>\n PFC Weldon A. Davis<\/a>, formerly of Tioga, TX, was assigned to the US Army\u2019s 2nd Infantry Division.\u00a0 He was reported missing in action near Somindong, North Korea, in late November, 1950.\u00a0 Interviews with returning POWs in 1953 indicated that Davis had been captured alive, but had died of malnutrition and lack of medical care while in captivity.\u00a0 His remains were recovered in 2005 by a joint US-DPRK recovery team.\u00a0 He was buried on February 6, 2013, in Dallas, TX.<\/p>\n 2LT William R. Parkinson<\/a>, formerly of Norfolk, Va., was lost on May 7, 1945.\u00a0 2LT Parkinson was the pilot of a B-24D that was lost with all hands when it crashed in the mountains southeast of Lae, Papua New Guinea.\u00a0 The crash site was rediscovered and excavated in 1973.\u00a0 Remains were discovered at that time, but could not be individually identified and were buried in a group gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery.\u00a0 The crash site was revisited in 2008 and additional remains were discovered.\u00a0 2LT Parkinson\u2019s remains were positively identified and were buried in Conyers, GA, on January 16, 2013.<\/p>\n Welcome home, my elder brothers in arms.\u00a0 Rest now in peace.<\/p>\n Over 7,900 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, while over 73,000 remain unaccounted for from World War II.\u00a0 If you are relative of someone who didn\u2019t come home, please read this link<\/a> to see if you might qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.\u00a0 If you qualify and your missing relative is someone for whom a mtDNA sample is needed, please give one.\u00a0 You may be able to help identify US remains that have been repatriated but not yet positively identified.<\/p>\n Everybody deserves a proper burial.\u00a0 That\u2019s especially true for those who gave all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"