Migration
Korean War soldier’s remains identified, buried at Arlington
Stars and Stripes
August 11, 2015
Arlington National Cemetery (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
The remains of a servicemember who went missing during the Korean War have been identified and buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Monday.
Army Cpl. Nehemiah E. Butler, of Pocomoke City, Md., was separated from his unit during an attempt to delay enemy forces from advancing in an attack near Seoul in December 1950, and was reported missing Jan. 1, 1951.
Butler’s remains were recovered later that summer and buried as an unknown at United Nations Military Cemetery in Tanggok, but were later disinterred and taken to the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan. In 1955, they were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DNA analysis that matched his sister, along with dental and chest X-rays, helped scientists identify Butler’s remains.
More than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, according to the Department of Defense.