Steven Lucas
Johnson City, New York
Born 1931
Corporal, U.S. Army
Service Number 12114532
Missing in Action - Presumed Dead
Died November 30, 1950 in Korea
Corporal Lucas was a member of the Heavy Mortar
Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was listed as
Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on November 30,
1950. He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. Corporal Lucas was awarded
the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal,
the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and
the Korean War Service Medal.
U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Public Affairs)
News Release
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 575-08
July 09, 2008
Soldier Missing In Action From Korean War Is
Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel
Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing
in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned
to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Corporal Steven Lucas, U.S. Army, of
Johnson City, New York. He will be buried July 11, 2008, in Arlington National
Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
Representatives from the Army met with Lucas’
next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to
coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of
the Army.
In late November 1950, Lucas was assigned
to the Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment making up part of the
31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), then engaging enemy forces east of the
Chosin Reservoir near Kaljon-ri, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea.
On November 29, 1950, remnants of the RCT began a fighting withdrawal to
more defensible positions near Hagaru-ri, south of the reservoir. Lucas
never made it to the lines at Hagaru-ri and was last seen on November 30,
1950.
Between 1991-94, North Korea turned over to
the U.S. 208 boxes of remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400
U.S. servicemen. North Korean documents turned over with one of several
boxes in 1993 indicated that the remains from that box were exhumed near
Kaljon-ri. This location correlates with Lucas’ last known location.
Among other forensic identification tools
and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting
Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial
DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of Lucas’ remains.
For additional information on the Defense
Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web
site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.
Webmaster:
Michael Robert Patterson
Posted:
9 July 2008 |

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