A Korean War soldier who went missing in action has been accounted for, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
U.S Army Private First Class Robert J. Wright Jr. of Hollybrook, VA was accounted for Apr. 28, 2023.
Wright was a member of G Company, 2 nd Battalion, 38 th Infantry Regiment, 2 nd Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He was reported missing in November of 1950 after his unit attempted to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on.
WATCH: Assault in Turkey on Marines attached to Norfolk-based USS Wasp caught on camera
‘Troubling incident:’ Assault in Turkey on Marines attached to Norfolk-based USS Wasp caught on camera
Wright was a prisoner of war and died in March of 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #5. In 1954, during Operation Glory, remains were returned to the United Nations Command by North Korea that were reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, which was also called the Prisoner of War Camp #5.
A set of remains from the camp was labeled Unknown X-14717 and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In August 2019, the DPAA disinterred remains of Unknown X-14717, as part of the second phase of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.