Osborne, Cpl. Dick E.

June 5, 2012

SOLDIER MISSING FROM KOREAN WAR IDENTIFIED

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office 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. Dick E. Osborne, 17, of Brookville, Pa., will be buried June 6, in Sigel, Pa. On Nov. 2, 1950, Osborne and members of the 8th Cavalry, 3rd Battalion, L Company, were fighting Chinese forces near the Kuryong River, North Korea, in an area known as “Camel’s Head.” Following the fighting, Osborne was listed as missing in action. His body was not recovered at the time, and he was likely buried on the battlefield by Chinese or North Korean forces.

On April 12, 2007, North Korea gave the United States six sets of human remains believed to be U.S. servicemen. North Korean documents, turned over with some of the boxes, indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the area where Osborne had reportedly died in battle. Evidence such as military items and uniform fragments were included with the remains.

To identify the remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence, and forensic identification tools such as dental records, and mitochondrial DNA – which matched Osborne’s living nephew.

Today, more than 7,900 Americans remain unaccounted-for from the Korean War. Identifications continue to be made from the remains that were returned to the United States, using forensic and DNA technology.

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