WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Edward M. Jones, 20, of Lake Charles, accounted for on Sept. 13, 2018, will be buried November 9 in his hometown. In February 1951, Jones was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, supporting Republic of Korea Army attacks against units of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) near Hoengsong, South Korea. On Feb. 12, 1951 Jones was reported missing in action when he could not be accounted for by his unit.
After the war, during Operation Little Switch, where sick, wounded and prisoners from each side were exchanged, a returning American POW reported that Jones had died at the Suan Bean Camp, a prisoner of war camp in North Korea. Based on this information, the U.S. Army declared Jones deceased as of March 16, 1951.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea returned to the United States 208 boxes of commingled human remains, which were later determined to contain the remains of at least 400 U.S. servicemen who died during the war. On Dec. 21, 1993, North Korea turned over 34 boxes of remains believed to be unaccounted-for servicemen from the war, 22 which were reported to have been in the vicinity of the Suan POW Camp Complex.
To identify Jones’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis, anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Today, 7,676 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Jones’ 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.
