Korean War soldier from Lebanon no longer MIA after Defense Department identifies remains

After 70 years, U.S. Army Cpl. Charles R. Patten is coming home.

Patten, 24, of Lebanon, was killed in action during the Korean War. According to a press release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in Washington, D.C., Patten’s body was accounted for June 7, 2023.

According to the release, Patten was a member of Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 20, 1950, when U.S. troops were ordered to fall back through Taejon, South Korea. The retreat was hampered by roadblocks, and soldiers moved off-road through the countryside in small groups to avoid capture.

Patten’s body could not be recovered then due to the fighting, but there is no evidence that he was a prisoner of war. The Army has listed the presumptive finding of death as Dec. 31, 1953.

The Army regained control of Taejon in the fall of 1950. They began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them in Taejon. The remains were later sent to Honolulu, where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl.

At that time, Cpl. Patten was designated as “Unknown X-2 Taejon.” In 2020, Unknown X-2 was disinterred from the Punchbowl for analysis with 651 other Korean War unknowns. To identify Patten, scientists from the DPAA used dental, anthropological, and circumstantial analysis. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Patten’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to Patten’s name to indicate that he has been accounted for.

Cpl. Patten will be buried in Lawson, Missouri, on a date to be determined. Patten’s personal profile can be viewed on the DPAA website.

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving the United States, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Remains of Korean War soldier from Lebanon, formerly MIA, coming home