Servicemen Returned
8 Servicement Returned
12/1/2006. The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel (DPMO) announced today that the remains of eight U.S. Servicemen, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors: They are MSgt Alfred H. Alonzo Sr. of Tampa, FL; Sgt. 1st Class Robert C. Bucheit of Hamilton, OH; Sgt Francis E. Lindsey of Esther, MO; Cpl Joseph Gregori of West Pittston, PA; Cpl. Darrell W. Scarbrough of Fayetteville, W.VA.; Cpl. Homor L. Sisk Jr. of Ducor, CA.; Cpl Charles E. Sizemore of Rushville, IN; and Cpl. William E. Wood of Moorhead, MN.; all U.S. Army. Gregori was buried in August; Bucheit was buried in September; Scarbrough, Sisk and Sizemore were buried in October; Alonzo was buried in November; and Lindsey and Woods burial dates are being set by their families.
The soldiers were assigned to the U.S. 8th Cavalry Regiment and attached units (1st Cavalry Division), when their unit came under attack by Chinese forces near Unsan, North Korean on the night of Nov. 1-2, 1950. During the battle, these eight and nearly 400 others from the 8th Cavalry Regiment were declared missing or killed in action.
In 2000, a joint U.S. and Democratic Peoples Republic of Korean Team, led by the Joint POW/MIA (JPAC) interviewed a farmer living in the vicinity of Unsan who told the team that while doing land reclamation work, he uncovered remains he believed were those of U.S. soldiers. The team excavated the burial site and uncovered the remains of at least 10 different individuals. They also recovered other items and identification tags belonging to these men. Some of the remains could not be identified and will be held for further research and analysis.
MSGT Robert V. Layton
11/28/2006 DPMO announced today that the remains of MSgt Layton, of Cincinnati, OH have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors. MSgt Layton was assigned to Company A, 32nd Infantry, 7 Div.
Between 2002 and 2004, joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, Peoples Republic of North Korea teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, seven times excavated a mass burial site associated with the 31st RCT, along the eastern shore of the Chosin Reservior. The team found human remains and other material, including Laytons identification tag and part of his billfold containing a newspaper clipping reporting on a Bronze Star being award to Sgt Layton, circa 1944.
PFC Allen L. Mettler
10/6/2006: PFC Mettler fought and died for our country over half a century ago. Mettler died in a Korean War POW camp, but it took decades for his body to be returned. The after effects of war are always present, but today the Mettler family and friends were finally able to close a painful chapter in their lives.
CPL Edward F. Blazejewski
8/10/2006: Blazejewski was assigned Medical Company, 8th Cavalry Regiment, when his unit came under heavy artillery attack by the Chinese forces near Unsan, North Korea, on November 1, 1950. A U.S. Soldier who had been held as a prisoner of war by the North Korean told debriefers that Blazejewski and others had been killed by a grenade explosion. Blazejewski was listed as MIA. He was returned to his family and buried with full military honors.
Back to TopKorean War Hero Returned to Family
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – After more than 50 years of waiting, hoping and praying, the family of a Korean War hero can rest easier knowing their Soldier is finally home.
The remains of Pfc. Francis Crater Jr. were buried in the family plot in Akron, Ohio, Oct. 21 – nearly 56 years after his death.
Read the full story at Military.com.
Back to TopOne of L Company, 8th Cav comes home - May 2006
The remains of PFC Henry D. Connell, MIA 2 November 1950, were returned to Hawaii for ID in 1993. He was recently ID'd by using family DNA and his remains were buried the weekend of May 14, 2006 in Springfield, Mass. He was in L Co, 8th Cav. MIA at Usan. Purple Heart w/OLC.
24th Division POW - March 2006
Friday 31 March 2006. Roger Dumas was a machine gunner in the 19th Reg. Charlie Company. He was captured on November 4, 1950. During Operation Big Switch, Dumas, like so many others were not released from Camp 5. The Pentagon never told Dumas' family that he was ever a POW. His brother, Bob, sued the Secretary of the Army in Federal Court in 1982 and presented evidence that Dumas was a POW and abandoned in N. Korea after the War. The Federal Judge ruled in Bob's favor and ordered the Secretary of the Army to reclassify Roger Dumas as a POW.
Missing POWs - 2006
In the past two years, Assistant Secretary of Defense Jerry Jennings reported that he has viewed over a thousand recent live sighting reports of American POWs in North Korea. This astounding story is told in the documentary film, "Missing, Presumed Dead: The Search for America's POWs," winner of the Best Documentary Award, Fort Myers Beach Film Festival. The film was also screened in Congress and a DVD has been distributed to every member of Congress and the Senate by Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. Congressman Paul is hopeful the film will inspire his colleagues to become co-sponsors of HR 123, which will allow a House Select Committee to investigate abandoned POW/MIA's.
For more information on this documentary please go to Missing Presumed Dead.
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See information about the POWs/MIAs that were returned June-December 2007.
See information about the POWs/MIAs that were returned January - May 2007.