James A. Coleman

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Army Sgt. 1st Class James A. Coleman, 22, of Hillsdale, Indiana, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for May 23, 2022.

In April 1951, Coleman was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on April 25 during fighting against Chinese Communist Forces near the Hwach-on Reservoir in the modern-day Republic of Korea (ROK). His status was changed to killed in action on Oct. 3, 1952, based on eyewitness accounts from a Soldier in a neighboring foxhole. His body was unable to be recovered due to the fighting.

The American Graves Registration Service Group (AGRSG) was responsible for recovering, identifying, and repatriating those lost during the Korean War. On May 18, 1953, they recovered two sets of remains near the village of Tumun-gol. One set was reported to have been a Korean who was returned to the ROK. The other set of remains, designated X-5960 Tanggok, could not be identified and was buried in the United Nations Military Cemetery Tanggok.

After the end of fighting in 1953, unknown remains from the Korean peninsula were transferred to the Central Identification Unit Kokura in Japan. They were unable to identify X-5960. All 848 unidentified sets of remains were sent to Hawaii in 1956 where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In January 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-5960 as part of Phase One of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

To identify Coleman’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological, and chest radiograph analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Coleman’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, 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.

A visitation will be held at Everly-Wheatley Funeral Home on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

A funeral service will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at the Ft. Myer Chapel with interment following at Arlington National Cemetery.

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