KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that a Missouri soldier has been accounted for from the Korean War.
U.S. Army Cpl. Charles R. Patten, 24, of Lebanon, Missouri — killed during the Korean War — was accounted for June 7, 2023.
Patten's family only recently received their full briefing on his identification.
In July 1950, Patten was a member of Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 34th infantry regiment, 24th infantry division.
He went missing in action after his unit was forced to retreat the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea, on July 20. Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time.
The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
After regaining control of Taejon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area. A tentative association was made, but definitive proof could not be found.
The remains were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Patton's remains were identified using dental and anthropological analysis, as well as a chest radiograph comparison and circumstantial evidence.
Patton's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with others. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cpl. Patton will be buried in Lawson, Missouri, on a date to be determined.
