Soldiers Killed During the Korean War are Identified

Between 2001 and 2005, joint U.S. and Democratic People's Republic of Korea teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted excavations of several burial sites near the Chosin Reservoir.

Many U.S. Army soldiers and Marines died at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea in 1951. Photo courtesy: koreanwar-educator.org

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

They are Corporal Robert L. Mason of Parkersburg, West Virginia; and Private first class Joseph K. Meyer Jr., of Wahpeton, North Dakota; both U.S. Army. The remains of the men will be buried Saturday. Robert Mason will be buried in Belpre, Ohio, and Joseph Meyer will be buried in Wahpeton.

Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

Corporal Mason was assigned to B Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, and Pfc Meyer was assigned to K Company, 31st Infantry Regiment. Both were attached to the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), 7th Infantry Division.

The team was engaged against the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, from late November to early December, 1950. Both men died as result of intense enemy fire, and their bodies were not recovered at the time.

Between 2001 and 2005, joint U.S. and Democratic People's Republic of Korea teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted excavations of several burial sites near the Chosin Reservoir.

The sites correlate closely with defensive positions held by the 31st RCT at the time of the Chinese attacks. The teams recovered remains there believed to be those of U.S. servicemen. Analysis of the remains recovered from the sites led to the identification of several individuals, including Robert Mason and Joseph Meyer.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory and JPAC also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in both Robert Mason's and Joseph Meyer's identification.