Reed, Cpl. Harold W.

May 19, 2014

Marine 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.

Marine Cpl. Harold W. Reed, 23, of Rochester, N.Y., will be buried May 24 in Toledo, Ohio. In November 1950, Reed was assigned to Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, when his unit disengaged from the enemy and began a fighting withdrawal to a more defensible position south near the village of Hagaru-ri. On Nov. 29, 1950, Reed was killed in action from a missile wound while fighting on the western side of the Chosin Reservoir.

In 1954, United Nations and Communist Forces exchanged the remains of war dead in what came to be called “Operation Glory.” All remains recovered in Operation Glory were turned over to the Army Central Identification Unit for analysis. The remains they were unable to identify were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, known as the “Punchbowl.”

In 2013, analysts from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) reevaluated Reed’s records and determined that portions of the remains recovered from Operation Glory should be exhumed for identification.

To identify Reed’s remains, scientists from JPAC used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, such as radiograph comparison, which matched Reed’s records.

Today, 7,883 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 for Americans, who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.