Reynolds, Cpl. Theodore A.

Nov. 28, 2011

U.S. SOLDIER MISSING FROM KOREAN WAR IDENTIFIED

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Cpl. Theodore A. Reynolds, 19, of Syracuse, N.Y., will be buried on Dec. 1, in his hometown. In November 1950, Reynolds, who was serving in the Company B, 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion attached to the 8th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division, went missing in action during a battle near Unsan, North Korea. In 1951, information obtained from the Chinese showed the Reynolds had been captured, and held as a prisoner of war. In 1953, American soldiers who were returned as part of a POW exchange confirmed that Reynolds had been captured by Chinese forces, and died in POW Camp 5, on the Yalu River of North Korea, from lack of medical care and malnutrition in 1951.

In 1954, during Operation Glory, China turned over remains of U.S. servicemen who died in the Korean War. At the time, the Army was unable to identify Reynolds and the remains were buried as “unknown” at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In 2009, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) re-examined the records and concluded that because of advances in identification technology, the remains could be exhumed and identified. Scientists from the JPAC were able to analyze the remains and identified Reynolds.

Along with forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the JPAC used dental records in the identification of Reynolds’ remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.