The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Tuesday that a Detroit man who died in the Korean War has been accounted for.
Army Pfc. Philip R. Hoogacker was 23 when he was killed in the war. According to the DPAA, he was accounted for on April 16, 2021.
Hoogacker was reported missing on July 27, 1950, after his unit was attacked near Anui, South Korea. At the time, he was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment. He was reportedly last seen receiving first aid for a minor shrapnel wound.
DPAA historians believe Hoogacker was captured by the Korean People’s Army and died as a prisoner of war.
In 1954, an agreement called Operation GLORY took place, focused on the recovery and return of war dead to their rightful nations. Under this operation, a set of remains labeled Unknown X-16833 was returned to the United States.
In April 2018, during Phase 1 of the Korean War Disinterment Project, X-16833 was transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii for analysis. DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis to identify Hoogacker’s remains.
According to the DPAA, Hoogacker will be buried on July 23, 2021, in Livonia. Hoogacker’s personnel profile can be seen here.
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