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FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of Army Cpl. Rex W. Powell, a Soldier killed during the Korean War, will be interred Aug. 11 at Salisbury National Cemetery, Salisbury, North Carolina. J.C. Green & Sons Funeral Home, Thomasville, North Carolina, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.
A native of Valdese, North Carolina, Powell was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action Dec. 12, 1950, at age 18, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. There were no record or eyewitness accounts of him being held as a prisoner of war, and no recovered remains were ever identified as Powell. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death for him Dec. 31, 1953.
During Operation GLORY in 1954, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea returned the remains of more than 2,900 Americans. None were identified as Powell and he was declared non-recoverable in January 1956. Eight hundred forty-eight unidentified remains, including one designated X-15633 Operation GLORY, were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In March 2021, during Phase Three of the Korean War Disinterment Project, X-15633 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and transferred to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
Powell was accounted for by the DPAA Feb. 13, 2023, after his remains were identified using dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.
His name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with 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. Powell, go to https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3452999/soldier-accounted-for-from-korean-war-powell-r/
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 (703) 699-1420/1169.
Media interested in covering the funeral/interment, and/or obtaining more information, should contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490 and/or J.C. Green & Sons Funeral Home, 336-472-7774.
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| Date Taken: | 08.02.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2023 09:21 |
| Story ID: | 450502 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 92 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Remains of Korean War Soldier to be buried in Salisbury, North Carolina, by Fonda Bock, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
