Cold War Veterans Blog

Soldier Missing from Korean War is Identified

/Tue, 4 Dec 2007 09:47:00 -0600/

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*IMMEDIATE RELEASE* *No. 1374-07
December 04, 2007*

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Soldier Missing from Korean War is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office
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.

He is 1st Lt. Dixie S. Parker, U.S. Army, of Green Pond,
Ala. He will be buried Dec. 6 in Arlington National Cemetery near
Washington, D.C.

Representatives from the Army met with Parker's next-of-kin
to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate
interment with military honors on behalf of the secretary of the Army.

Parker was assigned to Battery B, 8^th Field Artillery
Battalion, 25th Infantry Division then occupying a defensive position
overlooking the Kuryong River in P'yongan-Pukto Province, North
Korea. On Nov. 27, 1950, Parker was killed in his foxhole while serving
as a forward artillery observer. His body was not recovered.

In 2000, a joint U.S./Democratic People's Republic of Korea
team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a
site overlooking the Kuryong River in P'yongan-Pukto Province where U.S.
soldiers were believed to be buried. The team recovered human remains
and non-biological evidence including Parker's identification tags and
first lieutenant rank insignia.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial
evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification
Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the
identification of Parker's remains.

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.

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Stacey Nicole
Date: Dec 5, 2007 5:19 AM