Lost remains of Pa. soldier killed during the Korean War to be buried at Indiantown Gap

Clarification: This story initially listed an incorrect date for the interment of Army Cpl. Francis James Jury, which was provided by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Public Affairs Office. Jury will be interred on Oct. 11 at 11 a.m. at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.

On Dec. 2, 1950, Army Cpl. Francis James Jury was reported missing in action during a battle near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. A 23-year-old Clearfield, Pa. native, Jury was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.

In a 17-day battle in the Korean War, roughly 30,000 U.N. soldiers fought an estimated 120,000 of the enemy forces. Of the estimated 3,000 American soldiers fighting alongside Jury, only a few hundred were able to escape.

Following the battle, Jury's remains were not recovered, and there was no evidence that he was a prisoner of war.

But after almost 70 years later, Jury's remains were identified, and he will be soon laid to rest at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.

Jury is one of 450 Americans killed in the Korean War who have been identified and returned home by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency since 1982. His remains, along with 55 boxes of American soldier remains, were turned over to the agency in 2018 following an agreement made at a summit between former President Donald Trump and Kim-Jon-un, supreme leader of North Korea

"(Jury) was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Feb. 10, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence as well as anthropological and Y chromosome DNA analysis," officials said in a news release Wednesday.

More than 7,500 Americans still remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, according to officials.

Jury is the third soldier to be identified by the the DPAA Laboratory and laid to rest at Ft. Indiantown Gap Cemetery in the past year.

Pfc. Donald Born: 'Final piece of the puzzle': Soldier identified 72 years after his death in the Korean War

In August 2022, Pfc. Donald Born's remains were laid to rest in the cemetery after 72 years and four burial sites. Dozens came to the service to honor the former Korean War soldier's service and sacrifice. A former Korean War soldier like Jury, Born's body was exhumed in March of 2019 as part of the DOD's Korean War Disinterment Project.

In May 15, U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Carl D. Nesbitt's remains were laid to rest at the cemetery after being identified by the DPAA Laboratory Sept. 2022. The Lima, Ohio, resident flew 19 missions in his first month serving overseas during World War II before his plane crashed about 28 miles northeast of Leipzig, Germany on May 29, 1944.

Jury joined the army on Nov. 22, 1948 when he had basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He also served in the 17th Infantry Regiment at Sendia, Japan, according to clippings provided by the agency.

Jury's name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for, according to officials.

1st Lt. Carl Nesbitt: WWII pilot, whose remains were identified 78 years after his death, to be buried at Gap

Cpl. Jury's remains will be interred Oct. 11 at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. Kreamer & Lum Funeral Home & Crematory of Jonestown will perform graveside services preceding the interment.

To learn more about the DOD's efforts to identify Americans who went missing, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil.

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on X at @DAMattToth.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Lost remains of PA soldier killed in Korean War will be buried at Gap