Huff, Jr., Cpl. Clarence H.

Aug. 10, 2012

MARINE MISSING IN ACTION 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.

Marine Cpl. Clarence H. Huff, Jr., 20, of Brunswick, Ohio, will be buried Aug. 15, in Seville, Ohio. In late November 1950, Huff and the I Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, came under attack as they withdrew from the Chosin Reservoir to Hagaru-ri, South Korea. Huff was reported missing in action a few days after the attack.

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

In 2012, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) re-examined the records and concluded that due to advances in identification technology, the remains could be exhumed and identified. Scientists from the JPAC analyzed the remains and identified Huff.

Scientists from JPAC used the circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including radiograph and dental comparisons in the identification of Huff.

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 modern 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) 699-1169.