SACRAMENTO – On behalf of all Californians, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. and First Lady Anne Gust Brown honor Army Cpl. Robert P. Graham, a U.S. serviceman missing from the Korean War.
Last week, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Army Cpl. Graham’s remains have been identified. He will be buried tomorrow with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Robert P. Graham, 20, of San Francisco, CA, bravely gave his life in service to our state and nation and the Governor and First Lady extend their deepest condolences to his family and friends. In memorial, Governor Brown ordered that flags be flown at half-staff over the State Capitol. Army Cpl. Graham’s family will receive a letter of condolence from the Governor.
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The following information was provided by DPAA:
In February 1951, Army Cpl. Graham was assigned to Company A, 13th Engineer Combat Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, which was engaged in a battle near Hoengsong, South Korea. Under heavy enemy attack, his unit was ordered to withdraw south to Wonju. Upon arrival at Wonju, Army Cpl. Graham was reported missing on February 13, 1951.
In 1953, repatriated U.S. soldiers told debriefers that Army Cpl. Graham had been captured by enemy forces and died in March 1951 at Suan POW Camp. His remains were not among those returned by communist forces in 1954, however.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea returned to the United States commingled human remains which, when combined with remains recovered during joint recovery operations in North Korea, included the remains of at least 600 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents included in the repatriation indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the area where Army Cpl. Graham was believed to have died.
Scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used DNA analysis, forensic tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of the remains.