Central Coast soldier’s remains return home for burial — 70 years after death in Korean War
Seven decades after his death, the remains of a Korean War soldier have returned to Lompoc for burial in his hometown.
U.S. Army Cpl. Carmen Carrillo, 20, of Lompoc died during the Korean War, and he was accounted for Feb. 3, 2023, according to the federal Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Lompoc Police Department chaplain Keith McClellan asked community members to gather with American flags as the procession traveled from Starbuck-Lind Mortuary after a memorial service to Lompoc’s Evergreen Cemetery for burial on April 28.
The remains returned to Lompoc on April 25, with Lompoc police providing an escort into the city.
Carrillo attended Lompoc Elementary School in the 1940s.
In spring 1951, he was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
He was seriously wounded by the enemy in South Korea on Feb. 12, 1951, and returned to duty on April 12, 1951, according to military records.
Carrillo was reported missing in action on May 17, 1951, after fighting against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces in Gangwon Hongcheon, Republic of Korea.
“There is no indication his remains were recovered after the battle, and he was never recorded as a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953, and his remains were determined to be nonrecoverable in January 1956,” according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Defense.
In 2013, multiple sets of remains were recovered near where Carrillo went missing.
Six sets of remains, believed to belong to U.S. military members, were transferred to the United States.
The remains were disinterred on Sept. 22, 2021, and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Carrillo’s remains, scientists used dental and anthropological analysis along with DNA, the military said.
Carrillo’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who remain missing from the Korean War.
To reflect that his remains have been found and identified, a rosette will be placed next to his name.
Carrillo was awarded a number of medals, including the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Since 1982, the remains of more than 450 Americans killed in the Korean War have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors, according to the DPAA.
More than 7,600 Americans are still unaccounted-for from the Korean War, although hundreds of those are believed to be in the “non-recoverable” category, according to the DPAA tally.
Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com.
