LEBANON, Mo. – The family of a Lebanon, Missouri, man killed in the Korean War has received word that their loved one’s remains have been identified and accounted for.
U.S. Army Cpl. Charles R. Patten served in Headquarters Company, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, at the start of the Korean War and was stationed near Taejon, South Korea. On July 20, 1950, Patten’s unit was forced to retreat from the area. It’s believed Patten was killed in combat around this time.
Due to the severity of the fighting, Patten’s body could not be recovered, and there was never any evidence that he was taken as a prisoner of war.
Five months after the conclusion of the Korean War, the U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
However, when American and United Nations forces regained control of Taejon in the fall of 1950, the Army started collecting remains from the area and had them interred at the United Nations Military Cemetery in Taejon. One set of remains, labeled Unknown X-2 Taejon, was believed to be Patten’s, but no conclusive proof could be discovered.
The remains of Unknown X-2 Taejon were moved to Hawaii and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In late February 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) disinterred the remains of Unknown X-2 and sent the remains to the DPAA’s laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
Scientists from the DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System painstakingly used dental, anthropological, as well as chest radiograph comparison and circumstantial evidence, and mitochondrial DNA analysis to identify the remains.
Patten was finally accounted for in June 2023. His family recently received a full briefing on his identification.
Patten’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Patten’s remains will be buried in Lawson, Missouri. A date has not been scheduled.