Another Returns
DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US military personnel.
From Korea
• CPL Melvin R. Hill, X Corps, Heavy Mortar Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 2 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 12 October 2016.
Welcome back, elder brother-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long.
You’re home now; rest in peace.
. . .
Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,700 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.
On their web site’s “Contact Us” page, DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains. The chart giving the answer can be viewed here. The text associated with the chart is short and can be viewed in DPAA’s FAQs.
If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a DNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.
Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.
Category: No Longer Missing
Welcome home brother.
I have very little on Melvin R. Hill, but not for want of trying. Among the little found was a newspaper notice from Jan 1954 that listed the men whose status was changed from MIA to KIA. The entry of interest was that Melvin R. Hill was the son of Fannie Hill of Pamona, CA. Pamona is within LA county. A 1940 census entry for Melvin R Hill (age 9) lists his mother as Edna F. Hill. Unfortunately, I cannot say that this is CPL Hill so I’ll have to let it be. The combat in which CPL Hill was lost was vicious and murderous. Many soldiers and Marines fell and whole units were annihilated. It is the stuff of military history involving very bad intel, famous and infamous generals and so forth. What it translates to and what we can relate to is the heavy price paid by individuals, such as Melvin R. Hill, who are folded into the number of MIAs/POWs/KIAs listed in the records. CPL Hill was not a number. He was a soldier whose family loved him and missed him. His mortal remains belong here, on home soil.
Thanks for the legwork, 2/17.
And welcome home, Brother. You were missing but never forgotten.
Welcome home brother. Rest well in your home soil. God be with your family.