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## News Release

# U.S. Soldier Missing In Action From Korean War Identified (Pearce)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced todaythat the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have beenidentified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pfc. Aaron Pearce, 23, of Johnston, N.C., will be buried on Oct. 8 in Kenly, N.C. Inlate April of 1950, Pearce and the 25th Infantry Division were advancing north of the Han’tanRiver in South Korea when Chinese forces attacked, in what came to be known as the “SpringOffensive.” After days of heavy fighting, the 25th Infantry Division was pushed back to Seoul,Korea. Pearce and many other soldiers were reported missing in action as a result of thisengagement.

In 1952, U.S. Graves Registration Service personnel recovered military clothing andhuman remains near the area that had been covered by the 25th Infantry Division during theSpring Offensive. At the time the Army was unable to identify Pearce, and the remains wereburied as “unknown” at the United Nations Military Cemetery in Tanggok, South Korea. In1954, the remains were exhumed and reanalyzed. No identification was possible given thetechnology of the time and the remains were once again interred as “unknown” at the NationalCemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In 2010, analysts from the Department of Defense’s Central Identification Lab reexaminedthe records for all unaccounted-for losses in the vicinity of where the unknown remainshad been recovered, and exhumed the remains for further analysis. Military clothing and metalidentification tags that were included with the remains, along with improved technology andmethods of analysis helped to determine the identity of the remains.

Among forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the JointPOW/MIA Accounting Command used dental records and radiography in the identification ofPearce’s remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missingAmericans, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

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