Lockett, Cpl Lindsey C.

The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) 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 Cpl. Lindsey C. Lockett, 24, of Richmond, Va., will be buried April 25, in his hometown. In late 1950, Lockett and elements of Medical Detachment, 503rd Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, were occupying a position in the vicinity of Somin-dong, North Korea, when their unit was overwhelmed by Chinese forces. Lockett was reported missing Dec. 1, 1950.

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 in Kokura, Japan for analysis. The unidentified remains were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, known as the “Punchbowl.”

In 2014, with advances in technology, the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii re-examined the records and concluded that the possibility of identification now existed.

In the identification of Lockett’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and chest radiography which matched his records.

Today, 7,852 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 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 DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or call (703) 699-1169.