Remains of Sumter Co. soldier killed in Korean War identified 72 years after his death

WSBTV.com News Staff
·2 min read
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The remains of a Medal of Honor soldier from Sumter County killed in the Korean War have been accounted for, 72 years after his death.

Army Cpl. Luther H. Story was 19 at the time of his death.

In late 1950, Story was a member of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.

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On Sept. 1, 1950, he was killed in action as his unit was fighting the Korean People’s Army near Naktong River, South Korea.

At the time, there was no indication his remains were recovered after the battle, as he was never recorded as a prisoner of war.

The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Sept. 1, 1953, and his remains were determined to be nonrecoverable in January 1956.

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), 11 sets of remains were recovered near Sangde-po, South Korea, and eight were identified in October 1950.

One set of remains was thought to be Story, but investigators did not have enough identifying data to positively identify the remains.

Those remains were later taken with all of the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as an unknown soldier at the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the cemetery.

In June 2021, disinterred the remains that were believed to be Story and sent them to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii for analysis.

DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis to identify Story’s remains.

Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Story was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and his remains were accounted for on April 6, 2023.

He will be buried in Andersonville, Georgia on May 29, 2023.

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