Remains of Korean War Soldier to be buried in Jacksonville, Florida

Courtesy Photo | The remains of Army Cpl. George T. (Tommy) Grimes, a Soldier killed during the Korean War, will be interred June 20 in Jacksonville, Florida. A native of Quinlan, Texas, Grimes was a member of A Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action July 20, 1950, at the age of 19, after his unit was forced to retreat from the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea.  

FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

06.14.2023

Story by Fonda Bock 

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of Army Cpl. George T. (Tommy) Grimes, a Soldier killed during the Korean War, will be interred June 20 at Jacksonville National Cemetery, Jacksonville, Florida. Quinn-Shalz Family Funeral Home, Jacksonville Beach, Florida, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.

A native of Quinlan, Texas, Grimes was a member of A Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action July 20, 1950, at the age of 19, after his unit was forced to retreat from the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea. Because of the fighting his body could not be recovered, and there was never any evidence Grimes was a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death Dec. 31, 1953.

After regaining control of Taejon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area, temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery in Taejon. Although a tentative association was made between one set of remains designated Unknown X-219 Taejon and Grimes, definitive proof could not be found. Subsequently, Unknown X-219 was determined unidentifiable and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In July 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency disinterred Unknown X-219, as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project, sending the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

Grimes was accounted for by the DPAA Aug. 2, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence and chest radiograph comparison as well as dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.

His name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl along with the others still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

More than 7,500 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.

For additional information about Cpl. Grimes, go to https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3129926/soldier-accounted-for-from-korean-war-grimes-g/

To learn more about the Department of Defense’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at http://www.dpaa.mil, www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call [phone]/1169.

Media interested in covering the funeral/interment, and/or obtaining more information, should contact the Army Casualty Office at [phone] and/or Quinn-Shalz Family Funeral Home, [phone].

-30-

• Date Taken: 06.14.2023
• Date Posted: 06.14.2023 13:04
• Story ID: 447146
• Location: FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US