The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. Lawrence L. Brown, 21, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on February 14, 2022.
In late 1950, Brown was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, and 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces on November 26, 1950, in the vicinity of Kujang, North Korea, when his unit was attacked. Following the war, returning American prisoners of war reported that Brown died at Prisoner of War Camp #5. His exact date of death could not be confirmed and was recorded as being March 31, 1951, the last day he could have still been alive based on POW testimonies.
In September 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp 5, to the United Nations Command. One set of remains, Unknown X-14725, could not be identified and was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On November 18, 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14725 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Brown’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological, and chest radiograph analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Brown’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, 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.
Brown will be buried in Prairieville, Louisiana. The date has yet to be determined.
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 sheeton the DPAA website.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website, or find us on Facebook or LinkedIn.
For more information on Brown, visit his personnel profile.