September 2008

To follow-up on recent conversations, we’ve had quite a few questions on who and where and how many, with respect to missing men in the Korean War. Please let me give you my best numbers as of right now, 22 August 2008. These should prove useful, as we continue to discuss:

8,056 missing men
2,034 prisoners of war (POW)
1,784 killed in action (KIA)
4,140 missing in action (MIA)
98 non-battle deaths (NBD)

We refer to KIA, POW, and NBD as “states of knowledge,” because companions saw these men, remembered them, and reported them. Those men listed as MIA are less certain. Most are believed to be battlefield deaths, or nearby, but we are reasonably certain that some were POWs, for a few days or even a few weeks. All of the MIA cases have now been closed out with Presumptive Findings of Death, to let the families get on with their lives. But we still continue our research, looking for reliable answers.

The biggest problem is that when you are falling back in front of a much larger enemy force, you lose men in patrols and rear guard actions, often without witnesses. The same is true of POWs in Winter, men die along the wayside or are left behind in villages. Camp 5 during that first terrible winter was an especially bad case. The North Koreans did not turn over control of the camp to the Chinese until April 1951, and the North Koreans kept very few records, as far as we can tell. So we know that the number of POWs is low against the total number of missing men, we just can’t “prove it u” on a name by name basis.

Where are the missing men? We’ve been tracking this, and have had some success. Please have a look at these numbers:

8,056 missing men
5,556 North Korea
972 South Korea
292 off shore
1,236 in possession

The call between North and South Korea is very rough, for many battles fought later in the war were along ridgelines within the present Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Sometimes, within a group of 25, I’ve simply had to say, 12 + 13. But this should average out. The number of losses off shore is also tricky. Many aircraft flew single ship missions, or were seen to head for open water after being damaged, and no one saw exactly where they went down. So once again, I’ve tried to judge among possibilities.

Finally, the number of unidentified men in possession, as stated here, is low. There are 861 official Unknowns from past burials. But the number of more recent returns from North Korea, either by the other side or in our joint recoveries, is based on caskets. And very often we’ve found that there are additional portions, which we’ve had to “rearticulate” and sample for DNA. So, in working terms, the number still in North Korea should be about 200 lower, and the number in possession, about 200 higher. But that will ultimately resolve itself, as more and more men are identified in coming years. More on that story next time . . . .