WASHINGTON, April 11 (UPI) -- The remains of a U.S. soldier, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified, the U.S. Department of Defense said.
The soldier was identified as U.S. Army Sgt. Virgil L. Phillips, U.S. Army of Columbus, Ind., the department said in a news release. His remains are being returned from North Korea to his family and will be buried with full military honors.
Phillips was assigned in November 1950 to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division operating near Unsan, North Korea. Parts of two Chinese Communist divisions struck the 1st Cavalry's lines, surrounding the troops and forcing a withdrawal. Phillips was one of the more than 350 servicemen unaccounted-for from the battle, the department said Thursday.
A joint U.S.-North Korean team in 2003 excavated a burial site near Unsan, recovering human remains and other material evidence. The department said Phillips was identified through forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence.
