COLUMBIA, S.C. — The remains of a South Carolina soldier reported missing during the Korean War in 1950 have finally been identified after over 70 years.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Army Pfc. Louis N. Crosby, 18, of Orangeburg, South Carolina, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for April 21, 2020.
Crosby was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, on December 1, 1950. Reported missing in action (MIA) after the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
In July 2018, the North Korean government turned over 55 boxes of what reportedly held the remains of American servicemen killed during the Korean War, which waged between North and South Korea from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953. In a box containing remains recovered from Sinhung-ri, North Korea, an area associated with PFC Crosby's loss near the Chosin Reservoir is where they discovered Crosby's remains.
Scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence along with mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) analysis provided by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System to identify Crosby's remains.
His name, along with the names of all who are still missing from the Korean War, is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Crosby will be buried Aug. 18, 2021, in his hometown.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving the United States, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, or on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa