Defense Department scientists have identified the remains of a 30-year-old Army sergeant who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War.
In 1950, Sgt. 1st Class Ellis Coon, Mount Herman, Louisiana, served as a member of C Battery, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, according to an April 5 release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on, officials reported Coon missing on Dec. 1, 1950. After the war, researchers discovered that Coon had died of malnutrition and a lack of medical care likely on Feb. 14, 1951, in POW Camp #5, according to the release.
The Army declared a presumptive finding of death in March 1954 and declared the sergeant “non-recoverable” in January 1956.
Nearly four decades later, on Dec. 21, 1993, North Korean officials transferred 34 boxes of remains believed to be of U.S. troops who had died during the war.
Personnel had recovered some of those transferred remains at the POW Camp #5. Using anthropological analysis, other evidence multiple types of DNA testing, scientists identified Coon’s remains.
The sergeant’s name is etched into the Courts of the Missing at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, along with others still missing from the Korean War, according to the release. A rosette indicating that his remains have been identified will be placed next to his name on the memorial.
The date and location of Coon’s burial have not yet been determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
To see the most up-to-date statistics on DPAA recovery efforts for those unaccounted for from the Korean War, go to the Korean War Accounting page on the DPAA website at: https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaFamWebKorean.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.
