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TOKYO — The remains of a U.S. sailor missing in action from the Korean War have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial at Arlington National Cemetery on July 12, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

Ensign Robert W. Langwell, of Columbus, Ind., was aboard the minesweeper USS Magpie when it sank on Oct. 1, 1950, after striking a mine off the coast of Chuksan-ri, South Korea. Twelve crewmen were rescued, but Langwell was among 20 men lost at sea, according to the DOD release.

In 2008, while canvassing towns for information about missing servicemembers, a South Korean defense ministry recovery and identification team learned from an elderly fisherman that he and villagers at Chuksan-ri had buried an American serviceman in 1950 after his body was caught in a fishing net, the release said.

The remains and military artifacts were excavated in April 2009 and turned over to U.S. Forces Korea, which sent them to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii for forensic identification.

With Langwell’s accounting, 8,025 servicemembers still remain missing from the Korean War, according to the release.

From staff reports

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