Man Searching For Families Of Lost Korean War Vets

Akron Leader Publications - Akron, OH, USA

1/22/2009 - West Side Leader

By Letter to the Editor

To the editor:

I am searching for the families of four of your native sons who were lost in the Korean War. At this time, the government has no family contact for these soldiers. When the soldiers entered service, they gave Summit County, Ohio, as their home of record. They are credited to Summit County.

• Soldier: Arthur Clarence Cobbs. Born: Nov. 11, 1927. Date of loss: Feb. 12, 1951 MIA. Service Number: ER14199413. Unit: A Btry 503 Art Btn, 2nd Inf Division.

• Soldier: Robert Dale Houser. Born: July 12, 1929. Date of loss: July 21, 1951 MIA. Service Number: US52059954. Unit: C Co 19 Inf Rgt, 24th Inf Division.

• Soldier: Frederick Frank McClain. Born: Oct. 1, 1920. Date of loss: July 20, 1950 KIA. Service Number: RA35379700. Unit: K Co 34th Inf Rgt, 24th Inf Division.

• Soldier: Donald David Sparks Jr. Born: Nov. 19, 1926. Date of loss: July 10, 1950 POW. Service Number RA19218871. Unit: A Btry 52nd Art Btn , 24th Inf Division.

When the Korean War ended, the enemy never returned or accounted for more than 8,000 of our servicemen. They died in their hands. That was more than 50 years ago. Since that time, DNA has been perfected and also they are recovering remains in North Korea. Our government is obligated to return those remains to the proper families. DNA samples have been obtained from most of the families of these missing soldiers. For various reasons, some families have not been located. There are 91 families from Ohio that have not been located. There are four families from Summit County that have not been located. When the remains are recovered and identified, they will be returned to the families for proper burial.

I am just an old combat veteran out of the Korean War and thankful that I did return. I consider this a very noble cause, and I hope that you can help in some way to find these families. For more information on the project, you may go to www.jpac.pacom.mil. My part in the program is to match up the lost families with the proper agency.

I will be grateful for any assistance in locating these families. I can be reached at (910) 791-2333 or hgdavis@bellsouth.net.

Harold Davis, Wilmington, N.C.