Army Cpl Morris Meshulam
Army Cpl. Morris Meshulam, 19, of Indianapolis, Indiana, accounted for on June 4, 2018, will be buried Sept. 23 in his hometown. In late November 1950, Meshulam was a member of Battery D, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion (Automatic Weapons,) 2nd Infantry Division. The Division suffered heavy losses to units of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) between the towns of Kunu-ri and Sunchon, North Korea. Meshulam was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950.
In February 1951, a prisoner of war returned by the CPVF reported that Meshulam died of cold weather injuries in early January 1951, but could not give a location to where Meshulam’s remains were located.
In July 1951, a Korean farmer led a U.S. Army recovery team to a grave in a field that contained the remains of a U.S. Soldier. The recovered remains were sent to the Tanggok United Nations Memorial Cemetery for possible identification. The remains, designated Unknown X-1596 were declared unidentifiable and buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In June 2016, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-1596 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the lab for identification.
To identify Meshulam’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.
In February 1951, a prisoner of war returned by the CPVF reported that Meshulam died of cold weather injuries in early January 1951, but could not give a location to where Meshulam’s remains were located.
In July 1951, a Korean farmer led a U.S. Army recovery team to a grave in a field that contained the remains of a U.S. Soldier. The recovered remains were sent to the Tanggok United Nations Memorial Cemetery for possible identification. The remains, designated Unknown X-1596 were declared unidentifiable and buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In June 2016, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-1596 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the lab for identification.
To identify Meshulam’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.