MARIENVILLE, Pa. — The remains of a northwestern Pennsylvania soldier killed during the Korean War were identified and accounted for earlier this year, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Monday.
Sgt. Richard M. Sharrow, of Marienville, Forest County, was a member of Company F 2nd Battalion, 5th Calvary, Eighth U.S. Army when he was reported missing in action on July 25, 1950, the DPAA said.
The 22-year-old Sharrow was part of a unit that sustained heavy casualties while defending against the North Korean Army's advance near Yongdong, South Korea, according to DPAA.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered, and there is no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war, DPAA said.
The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953, and Sharrow's remains were determined non-recoverable in Jan. 16, 1956, according to DPAA.
The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps (AGRSG) was responsible for recovering, identifying, and repatriating those lost during the Korean War. In the spring of 1951, they recovered a set of remains designated as Unknown X-1023 near Yongdong.
After extensive analysis by the Central Identification Unit-Kokura in Japan was unable to identify X-1023 the remains were declared unidentifiable, DPAA said. In April 1955, the remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, with other Korean War Unknowns.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. On Oct. 21, 2019, the DPAA disinterred X-1023, as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Sharrow’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis as well as chest radiograph comparison. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Sharrow’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.
Sharrow will be buried in Marienville on Sept. 25.
