Hamlet soldier accounted for from Korean War

WASHINGTON — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Clem D. McDuffie, 18, of Hamlet, North Carolina, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Aug. 26, 2024.

In the winter of 1950, McDuffie was a member of Item Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Nov. 30 after his unit was attacked by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.

In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15670 Operation Glory. The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as McDuffie and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In March 2021, DPAA disinterred X-15670 as part of Phase 3 of the Korean War disinterment project. X-15670 was accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.

To identify McDuffie’s remains, scientists from DPAA used chest radiograph comparison, dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and mitochondrial genome sequence (mtG) analysis.

McDuffie’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.

McDuffie will be buried in Hamlet, North Carolina, on Nov. 30, 2024.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

To see the most up-to-date statistics on DPAA recovery efforts for those unaccounted for from the Korean War, go to the Korean War fact sheet on the DPAA website at: https://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/Article/569610/progress-on-korean-war-personnel-accounting/.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.

McDuffie’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000azLq7EAE.