Another Returns
DPMO has announced the identification of one US MIA from Korea.
PFC Jerry P. Craig, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team (RCT), US Army, formerly of Panhandle, TX, was reported Missing In Action (MIA) on 2 December 1950 near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. PFC Craig’s remains were among those returned to US custody in 1954, but could not be identified at that time; he was buried as an “Unknown” in the National Cemetery of the Pacitic, HI. Due to advances in forensic technology, in 2012 the chance of identifing PFC Craig’s remains using current forensic techniques was evaluated as being “likely”. His remains were exhumed and were definitively identified.
He was reportedly 17 at the time of his death.
PFC Craig will be buried 19 December 2013, in Leesville, LA.
Rest in peace, my elder brother-in-arms. Welcome home.
. . .
Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.
If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one. By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.
Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.
Category: No Longer Missing
Rest In peace PFC Craig. Thank you for your “last full measure of devotion” to our nation and God bless your family.
Welcome home, sir. We’re honored to have you back.
Welcome home and rest in peace, soldier.
God bless your soul, PFC Craig. Thank you for your devotion to all of us who enjoy the fruits of what you fought for. You and men like you are the reason we have them.
Welcome home.
Rest well.
Rest in peace Jerry, your home now, and we’ll be sure that your never forgotten.
A Fellow Korean Vet.
I’ve noticed that in the last few months, more than a few of the recovered servicemembers that the have come from the Chosin Reservoir. Pretty much all of them have been Army, members of RCT-31 and other units that were east of the Reservoir which were decimated by the Chinese hordes that came at them through the snow.
I’m glad they are finally able to identify those men and give them and their families the peace of mind that they so richly deserve, and have not had until now. I think of how they suffered so terribly…the intense bone-chilling cold, the overwhelming odds, the lack of suitable cold-weather gear, the supply shortages, and more…their deaths were not in vain, as they helped to delay the Chinese in their advance towards Hagaru-ri, and quite possibly saving the 1st Marine Division and the rest of X Corps from disaster.
Bless ’em all. They now walk among other heroes.