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Korean War Resources
Database Reports:
Personnel Missing - Korea (PMKOR) Database:
DPMO established the
PMKOR Database as the baseline to provide the fullest possible accounting of those servicemen who did not return from the
Korean War (1950-1953). This publication is a comprehensive listing of those individuals who are unaccounted-for after the
repatriation events of OPERATION LITTLE SWITCH, OPERATION BIG SWITCH and OPERATION GLORY.
( Click here to go to the PMKOR Database Page )
Korean War Aircraft Loss Database (KORWALD):
DPMO has developed the KORWALD to assist U.S.
researchers and analysts in their efforts to account for Korean War aircraft losses. This database associates specific aircraft
with individual aircrew members, circumstances of loss, status and other data.
( Click here to go to the KORWALD Page )
Other Resources:
Major Remains Concentrations in North Korea:
A few men died in
relative isolation, along trails and in individual aircraft crashes. But most did not. The best way to search for all of those
still unaccounted for is to go to local centers of mass, where men died, whether on battlefields, at POW camps, or near organized
burials. Then we hope to work outward to look for those lost along the way.
( Click here to see the "Major Remains Concentrations in North Korea" map )
POW Camps in North Korea:
Over 2,000 men died, and are still unrecovered,
as prisoners of war. Some deaths occurred at holding points and others in the permanent camps operated by Chinese forces on
the south bank of the Yalu River. Some U.S. POWs spent time across the river in Manchuria, but to the best of our knowledge,
all have returned.
( Click here to see the "POW Camps in North Korea" map )
POW March Routes and United Nations Cemeteries:
The search for
remains, whether of known prisoners, battlefield deaths, or those missing in action, is usually a matter of following routes.
These work northward from later battles, past organized burials and holding points, and sometimes even re-cross previous battlefields.
In this sense, the whole search and recovery process is interactive, from case to case to case.
( Click here to see the "POW March Routes & United Nations Cemeteries" map )
U.S. Air Force K-Sites in Korea:
During the Korean War, the USAF
operated from bases and airfields throughout North and South Korea. These bases and airfields were assigned "K" numbers by
the Far East Air Force. This list associates the "K" numbers with their respective locations.
( Click here to go to the "K-Site Listing" Page ) (Source: The Air Force Historical Research Agency )
What to do if you have information for DPMO:
If you have any information
that may concern a missing American that has not returned from a war in which our Nation has engaged, DPMO would appreciate
you forwarding that information to us at the following mailing address:
OASD/DPMO
Attn: Charles Henley
2400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-2400
Related Information:
» How to get the Republic of Korea War Service Medal
» Operation Little Switch (External Link)
» Operation Big Switch (External Link)
» Operation Glory (External Link)
Last WWI Combat Veteran Laid to Rest
Army News Service | Spc. April L. Dustin | March 09, 2007 PORTLAND, Ore. - The echo of a 21-gun salute and bugler playing Taps seemingly
marked the end of an era as a state and national treasure was laid to rest in Portland, Ore., March 2.
Retired Army
Cpl. Howard V. Ramsey, Oregon's last living World War I veteran and the last known U.S. combat veteran of WWI, died in his
sleep Feb. 22 at an assisted living center in southeast Portland. He was honored in a memorial service attended by nearly
200 people at Lincoln Memorial Park exactly one month before reaching his 109th birthday.
"This is a very historic
occasion; we lay to rest today our nation's oldest combat veteran," said Pastor Stu Weber, who officiated over Ramsey's memorial
service.
In an Associated Press report, Jim Benson of the Veterans Administration said there are now only seven WWI
veterans on record with the VA, although it is possible there are unknown veterans who may still exist.
Of the seven
known WWI veterans still living, none were shipped overseas, making Ramsey the last known combat veteran of "The Great War."
Ramsey inherited the title two weeks before his passing, when Massachusetts veteran Antonio Pierro passed away on Feb. 8.
Ramsey's
lifetime spanned three centuries and 19 presidents. He was born in Rico, Colo., on April 2, 1898, when the U.S. flag had just
45 stars and President McKinley was preparing to declare war with Spain.
Too young to be drafted, Ramsey tried to
voluntarily enlist but was told he was too skinny by Army standards. After gorging on bananas and water to successfully meet
weight standards, he was placed in the Army's transportation corps.
Ramsey sailed to France in September 1918 to join
General John "BlackJack" Pershing's American Expeditionary Force. Ramsey drove cars, trucks and motorcycles for the Army and
trained other Soldiers how to drive. He was often selected to drive officers to special engagements, one officer "gigging"
him for having a dirty truck despite the constant rain and mud in France. He also drove ambulances, transported troops to
the frontlines and delivered water to troops on the battlefields.
Ramsey once recalled his service in WWI saying,
"We were under fire a lot at the front, and we really caught hell one time. I lost friends over there."
After the armistice,
Ramsey spent several months recovering the remains of American Soldiers who had been hastily buried in the trenches and transported
them to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, the largest American cemetery in Europe.
"You'd better believe it was
pretty awful work," Ramsey told Oregonian reporter Rick Bella in 2005. "It was tough, but you became hardened to it."
Nearly
90 years later, Ramsey was still haunted by regret for not breaking the rules and keeping a diary that fell from the pocket
of one deceased American Soldier. Ramsey told family and friends, "I wanted to keep that diary so badly to send it to his
mother, but it was against the rules to keep anything from off the bodies."
Veterans of many generations and wars,
and military representatives attended Ramsey's memorial service to pay their respects, including Brig. Gen. Raymond C. Byrne
Jr., commander of the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Jim Willis, state director of Oregon
Department of Veterans Affairs.
"If we are going to end an era, I can think of no better way than to do it with a
person who is a model representation of the kinds of Soldiers who served this country in WWI, and someone who would be an
example to any combat Soldier serving up to, and including those who serve in Afghanistan and Iraq today. All (veterans) would
be justifiably proud to have known Corporal Howard Ramsey," said Willis.
Retired Army Col. Don Holden, whose father
was Ramsey's classmate at Washington High School, shared fond memories of Ramsey's sense of humor. He said farewell to his
old friend by reading the epic WWI poem "Flander's Field," which Ramsey could recite from memory well into his late 90s.
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