WASHINGTON, D.C. — This morning, the sun glistened on the final resting places of approximately 400,000 American soldiers and their family members at Arlington National Cemetery.
American heroes from the Revolutionary War to the conflicts of today, rest in peace, row by row in over 600 acres of hallowed ground.
One of those heroes, is Army Corporal Gordon D. McCarthy, who was killed by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir of North Korea in 1950.
The 20-year-old Palmer, Michigan native was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950.
On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes containing the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War.
Earlier this year, the Defense POW/MIA (DPAA), identified McCarthy after using anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Now, over 70 years later, the flag that Army Cpl. Gordon McCarthy honored and served in the Korean War, honored him as he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
McCarthy’s name is recorded on the courts of the missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of The Pacific in Honolulu, along with the other 7,500 Americans who are still missing from the Korean war. A rosette is placed next to McCarthy’s name to indicate he has been accounted for.
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 fact sheet on the DPAA website at: https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/KoreanWar/PersonnelAccounting.
