The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Arthur A. Clifton, 17, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for August 19, 2024.

Clifton's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.

In the winter of 1950, Clifton was a member of Headquarters Battery, 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 11 after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.

In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15690 Operation Glory. The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Clifton and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In July 2018, after disinterring 211 Korean War Unknowns as single sets of remains or small groups from the NMCP, DPAA submitted a request to disinter all 652 remaining Korean War Unknowns interred at the NMCP. By March 2021, DPAA disinterred X-15690, and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.

To identify Clifton's remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Clifton's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Clifton will be buried in San Antonio, Texas, in January 2025.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

To see the most up-to-date statistics on DPAA recovery efforts for those unaccounted for from the Korean War, go to the Korean War fact sheet on the DPAA website at: https://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/Article/569610/progress-on-korean-war-personnel-accounting/.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.

Clifton's personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000003VQvmEAG.