Cpl Frederick E Coons
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. Frederick E. Coons, 22, of Fairview Township, Missouri, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Oct. 29, 2018.
In July 1950, Coons was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. On July 29, 1950, Coons was declared missing action in the vicinity of Geochang, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, when he couldn’t be accounted for after a unit withdrawal action to set up a roadblock against North Korean Forces.
On Feb. 23, 1952, the 565th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company recovered three sets of remains from a shallow, temporary grave near the village of Apkong-ni, South Korea. The remains, designated X-5272, X-5273 and X-5274, were transferred to the United Nations Military Cemetery in Tanggok for temporary burial. The remains were then sent to the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, for identification.
One set of remains, X-5272 was declared unidentifiable and were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu for burial.
On March 12, 2018, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-5272 from the Punchbowl for identification.
To identify Coons’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
In July 1950, Coons was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. On July 29, 1950, Coons was declared missing action in the vicinity of Geochang, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, when he couldn’t be accounted for after a unit withdrawal action to set up a roadblock against North Korean Forces.
On Feb. 23, 1952, the 565th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company recovered three sets of remains from a shallow, temporary grave near the village of Apkong-ni, South Korea. The remains, designated X-5272, X-5273 and X-5274, were transferred to the United Nations Military Cemetery in Tanggok for temporary burial. The remains were then sent to the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, for identification.
One set of remains, X-5272 was declared unidentifiable and were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu for burial.
On March 12, 2018, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-5272 from the Punchbowl for identification.
To identify Coons’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.