GRANT, Michigan — Over 70 years in the making, the body of a young West Michigan soldier killed in the Korean War has been identified.
Thomas A. Smith, 17 of Grant, was reported missing in action on Aug. 2, 1950 when his unit took part in defensive action near Chinju, a city located at the southern end of the Korean peninsula. He was a member of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. He was never listed as a prisoner of war, so the Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, a group responsible for recovering, identifying and repatriating those lost during the Korean War, discovered remains designated as Unknown X-5077 Tanggok near the village of Hwagye, South Korea. After analysis, the remains were declared unidentifiable.
The remains were then buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, also known as the Punchbowl, in February 1956 with other Korean War remains that could not be identified.
In March 2019, the Quartermaster Corps disinterred the remains for analysis as part of Phase One of the Korean War Disinterment Plan. Scientists used dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis to identify them.
Scientists discovered they belonged to PFC Smith on September 22, 2023. His family just recently received their full briefing on the identification process.
Smith's name was recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with others who are still unaccounted for from the Korean War. It will soon have a rosette placed next to it, meaning his remains have been discovered.
He will be buried in Grant on a date yet to be determined.
Smith’s personnel profile can be viewed here.
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