DNA Sought To ID Remains Of Servicemen

Tribune-Democrat - Johnstown, PA, USA
January 27, 2009
Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa

Harold Davis considers himself one of the lucky ones. After the bloody three-year Korean War ended in July 1953, the Army war veteran returned home safely. Many others did not.

Now, the North Carolina man is asking for help in locating the families of two Cambria County, Pa., men still unaccounted for.

"Our government has absolutely no contact with the families of these men," Davis said. "Our small group is trying to find these families and put them in touch with the Casualty Office."

Through DNA, government officials have identified the remains of about 6,000 Americans, Davis said.

But the U.S military has yet to locate the families of about 2,000 missing servicemen, including 91 from Pennsylvania, he said.

Davis is looking for the families of an Army soldier and a Navy flyer, both from Cambria County.

They are Joseph Sotero Morales and Martin Joseph Wright.

Local Korean War veterans believe it is critical to find and identify the remains of servicemen.

"It's the only thing that brings closure to the family," Franklin Borough resident Richard McNulty said.

"They have to know if it's their son."

The history of the two men provided by Davis is brief.

Pfc. Morales was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.

He was taken prisoner July 20, 1950, while fighting the enemy near Taejon, South Korea.

He was forced to march to North Korea on the "Tiger Death March" and died while a prisoner at Hanjang-ni on Nov. 26, 1950.

An aviation ordnanceman first class, Wright was a crewman on an AD-4N Skyraider night dive bomber with Detachment H, Composite Squadron 35 on board the aircraft carrier USS Boxer, Davis said.

Wright was listed as missing in action after the pilot was forced to ditch the aircraft because of a power failure on July 5, 1953.

Family members interested in providing DNA will receive a swab by mail.

"The family member will swab their mouth and send it back for identification," said Elizabeth Feeney, spokeswoman for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii.

"It gets a little tricky when you go down through the generations," she said.

Family members interested in providing DNA to identify missing Korean War servicemen can contact Accounting Command at (808) 448-1934 or Davis at (910) 791-2333.