CINCINNATI, Ohio — A soldier who served and was killed in the Korean War has been identified through DNA testing as Army Cpl. Charles E. Lee, 18, of Cincinnati, according to The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
Lee was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
On July 20, 1950 he was reported missing in action after his unit was forced to retreat form the vincinity of Taejon, South Korea.
He was never found and was declared non-recoverable in January 1956.
In March 1951, two sets of remains, designated Unknown X-781 and X-782 Tanggok, were found from a common grave near the Taejon-Kumchon main supply route.
The remains designated X-782 were identified in February 1951, but X-781 was unable to be identified.
The remains of X-781, with all the unidentified Korean War remains, were transported and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Years later, in 2018, historians and anthropologists proposed a plan to disinter and identify the 652 Korean War unknown burials, including 53 recovered from the Taejon area.
On July 15, 2019, X-781 was transferred to the DPAA lab where scientists used dental and anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence to identify X-781 as Lee. He was officially accounted for on June 14, 2021.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Lee will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The date has yet to be announced.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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