Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For
Army Cpl. David J. Wishon Jr. of Baltimore will be buried May 6 in Arlington National Cemetery. On Dec. 1, 1950, Wishon, assigned to Medical Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, was declared missing in action after his unit was heavily attacked by enemy forces in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Due to a prolonged lack of information regarding his status, a military review board amended his status to deceased in 1953. Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea returned to the United States 208 boxes of commingled human remains, which when combined with remains recovered during joint recovery operations in North Korea, included the remains of at least 600 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents included in the repatriation indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the area where Wishon was believed to have died. Additionally, in October 2000, a joint U.S./North Korea recovery team recovered human remains from an alleged burial site in Kujang, North Korea. To identify Wishon's remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, consisting of two forms of DNA analysis, including mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA, which matched his sisters. Today, 7,819 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using advances in technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American teams. For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving the United States, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or call 703-699-1420. |
We do not have information on individuals beyond what is listed on this site.
For more information, visit www.dpaa.mil or call 703-699-1420.
We are not associated with any government agency.