Army Cpl. Jesse Mitchell, killed in the Korean War, accounted for

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced recently that U.S. Army Corporal Jesse L. Mitchell, 22, of Shawnee, Oklahoma, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Apr. 8, 2024.

In Dec. 1950, Mitchell was a member of C Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Kunu-ri, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, during the Battle of Ch’ongch’on River.

Eyewitness accounts recall Mitchell being captured by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces while attempting to withdraw to friendly positions. He reportedly died from exhaustion and malnutrition while in captivity at POW Camp 5, on the Pyoktong Peninsula, in summer 1951.

Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-13443 OP GLORY, was reportedly recovered from the 1st Marine Division Cemetery at Yudam-ni, D.P.R.K.

While most losses interred at Yudam-ni were primarily Marines, several other sets of remains were identified as POWs who had died at Camp 5. Investigators could not identify X-13443 at the time, and they were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In July 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown Remains X-13443 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.

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

Cpl. Mitchell’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, 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.

Cpl. Mitchell will be buried in Shawnee, Oklahoma, on October 12, 2024.