The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Wednesday that Army Cpl. Roy H. Thomas, 22, of St. Charles, Va., killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Dec. 22, 2020.
Cpl. Thomas’s family only recently received their full briefing on his identification, which is why this release is going out now when he was accounted for last December.
In late 1950, Thomas was a member of Company M, Third Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, Seventh Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 12, 1950, after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Thomas’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome (Y-STR) analysis.
Thomas’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, 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.
Thomas will be buried in Woodway, Va. The date has yet to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.