Jock, MSG Lawrence O.
July 25, 2014
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Master Sgt. Lawrence O. Jock, 37, of Fort Covington, N.Y., will be buried Aug. 1 in Malone, N.Y. On July 14, 1953, Jock was a forward observer assigned to Battery A, 955th Field Artillery, 8th U.S. Army, which operated in support of the Republic of Korea’s 3rd Division near Kangwon Province, North Korea. Chinese forces attacked, forcing the 3rd Division’s units to abandon their positions. After this battle, Jock was reported as missing in action.
Approximately two weeks after the battle, an Armistice agreement was signed between the United Nations and North Korea. As part of the Armistice, prisoners of war and war dead were exchanged. No further information on Jock was received from the Chinese and North Korean governments or Returning American prisoners of war, and a military review board declared Jock to be presumed dead, with an effective date of July 15, 1954.
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea turned over to the U.S. 208 boxes of human remains believed to contain 350 – 400 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents, turned over with some of the boxes, indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the vicinity where Jock was believed to have died.
To identify Jock’s remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including mitochondrial DNA and radiograph comparison which matched his records.
Today, 7,882 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American teams.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account forAmericans, who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.