Pentagon IDs remains of Mississippi soldier killed in Korean War

March 26 (UPI) -- Scientists identified the remains of a 19-year-old U.S. soldier declared missing in action in 1950 during the Korean War, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday.

Army Cpl. Benjamin W. Scott of Alamo, Miss., was declared missing July 12, 1950, after engaging in combat against North Korea near Choch-iwon, South Korea.

Scott was attached to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.

His remains were found near where he was last seen in May 1952 and they were sent to Japan for identification. Since they were unable to be identified, the remains were sent to the National Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency disinterred the remains in 2017 as part of renewed effort to identify unknown service members killed in the Korean War.

Scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, circumstantial and material evidence and mitochondrial DNA analysis to identify Scott's remains.

Scott will be reburied in April in Atwood, Tenn. His name appears on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, where a rosette will be etched next to his name to indicate his identification.

Also Tuesday, the DPAA said it has accounted for another missing-in-action Korean War soldier, Army Pfc. Herschel M. Riggs. He was declared missing in action July 16, 1950, after combat against North Korea near Taejon, South Korea.

He was attached to Headquarters Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. The DPAA offered few details about the identification pending notification of his next of kin.

The DPAA said 7,662 U.S. service members remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.