WASHINGTON — A Michigan solider from the Korean War has now been accounted for. He has been identified as 18-year-old U.S. Army Cpl. Lewis W. Hill from Detroit.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), Hill was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
On July 20, 1950, Hill went missing in action after his unit was forced to retreat from the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea. Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at the time. There was also never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. A presumptive finding of death was issued by the Army on December 31, 1953.
After regaining control of Taejon in the fall of 1950, the Army began to recover remains from the area. They were then temporarily interred at the United States Military Cemetery. One set of remains that was recovered was designated as “Unknown X-29 Taejon.” Although tentative association was made between Hill and X-29, no definitive proof could be found, and the remains were determined to be unidentifiable.
The remains were then sent to Hawaii, and were buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, now known as Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
On July 15, 2019, the DPAA disinterred X-29 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project. The remains were then sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
The DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, chest radiograph comparison, and circumstantial evidence to identify the remains. In addition, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Hill will be buried in Imlay City, Michigan. His name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl. A rosette will be placed next to his name, to show that he has now been accounted for.
