The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Friday that Army Cpl. Paul Mitchem, 20, of Avondale, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Feb. 11, 2021. A formal announcement was made Friday because his family had only recently received their full briefing about his identification. (DPAA)
AVONDALE (Tribune News Service) — A McDowell County man who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country 72 years ago is no longer a number. He is now a name.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Friday that Army Cpl. Paul Mitchem, 20, of Avondale, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Feb. 11, 2021. A formal announcement was made Friday because his family had only recently received their full briefing about his identification.
In July 1950, Mitchem was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 7 after his unit sustained heavy casualties while defending against the North Korean army’s advance near Ch’onan, South Korea, DPAA officials said. His body was not recovered because his unit was forced to retreat, nor were any remains found that could be identified as Mitchem. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death in December 1953, and he was declared non-recoverable in January 1956.
Soon after territory around Ch’onan was recaptured, remains were recovered in October 1950 and designated X-22 Taejon. X-22 was unable to be identified by American Graves Registration Service and was determined unidentifiable in August 1954. The remains were later transported with all of the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In June 2019 during Phase 2 of the Korean War Disinterment Project, X-22 was disinterred from the Punchbowl as part of the planned exhumation of all 53 burials originating from the United Nations Military Cemetery Taejon, and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii for analysis, DPAA officials said.
To identify Mitchem’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Mitchem’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Mitchem will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., DPAA officials said in the agency’s announcement. The date has yet to be determined.
Officials of the Amy Casualty Office with information about contacting Mitchem’s family were unavailable Friday afternoon. (c)2022 the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, W.Va.)
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