Posted on: Thursday, May 22, 2003

Remains from Korean War identified

Advertiser Staff and News Services

For the first time, an American serviceman buried as an "unknown" from the Korean War has been identified and his remains returned to his family, the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawai'i said.

Marine Pfc. Ronald D. Lilledahl of Minneapolis had been interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

His remains were exhumed in 1999, and with the aid of a new dental pattern computer program developed by lab forensic anthropologist Bradley Adams, an identification was made.

"This is a new technique that's available," Adams said. "I think you'll see it used more and more throughout the country."

Lilledahl, with C Company, 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines, was believed to have been killed by enemy fire on Nov. 28, 1950 on the west side of the Chosin Reservoir, and buried in a shallow grave.

Following the end of fighting in 1953, the North Korean government returned remains believed to be those of U.S. servicemen. A total of 866 sets of remains marked as "unknown" from the Korean War are buried at Punchbowl, said identification lab spokeswoman Ginger Couden.

In 1999 the lab exhumed two of the Korean War unknowns for possible identification. Between 1999 and 2002, scientists submitted 10 bone or dental samples to the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Rockville, Md., but no usable mitochondrial DNA could be extracted.

Later, Army scientists found a postage stamp-sized chest X-ray in Lilledahl's medical records. Enlarged many times, it showed a "very strong consistency" with the remains, officials said.

The final confirming evidence came from the new computer program that enables forensic scientists to compare dental remains to a database of 40,000 dental patterns for factors such as missing, filled and unrestored teeth from civilian and military sources as far back as World War II.

The comparison is made after forensic scientists think a match has been made between old dental or treatment charts and a set of remains.

Lilledahl's identical twin, Donald, said his family is thrilled by the news. A memorial service with full military honors is planned for June 13 at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

The twins enlisted together in the Marine Corps Reserves in 1948, along with younger brother Bill. Their unit was called to active duty in June 1950, and Ronald and Bill shipped out for war, leaving Donald behind because he had suffered a broken ankle and could not pass his physical.

"He and I were never separated," Donald said in a telephone interview from his home in Minneapolis on Wednesday night. "It was quite a shock when he got killed."

Advertiser staff writer William Cole and The Associated Press contributed to this report.