Updated at 11:50 a.m., Friday, February 16, 2007
Hawai'i command helps ID Korean War soldier remains
Advertiser Staff
The Hawai'i-based Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command assisted in the recovery and identification of a U.S. soldier missing in action from the Korean War.The remains of U.S. Army Cpl. Jimmie L. Dorser of Springfield, Mo., will be buried tomorrow in Lake Forest, Calif., with full military honors.
Dorser was a member of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division (organized into the 31st Regimental Combat Team). The RCT was engaged against the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces along the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea from Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 1950. The unit was forced to retreat to the south and many men were reported missing in action under the intense enemy fire.
In 2002, a joint U.S. and Democratic People's Republic of North Korea team, led by Hawai'i's JPAC, excavated a mass grave on the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir. The remains of five individuals were recovered.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in Dorser's identification. Other remains cannot be attributed to specific individuals at this time and will undergo further analysis.
For additional information on the Defense Department's efforts to account for missing Americans, visit http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo.
