The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Army Cpl. James C. Rix, 18, of Alamo, Georgia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Feb. 8, 2019.

In November 1950, Rix was a member of Company E, 7^th Cavalry Regiment, 1^st Cavalry Division.  He was killed in action on Nov. 30, 1950, during heavy fighting between the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) and the 7^th Cavalry Regiment in the vicinity of North Pyongan Province, North Korea.  His remains were interred at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Pyongyang, on Dec. 2, 1950.

In 1954, the United Nations Command (UNC) and North Korea, along with the CPVF, reached an agreement regarding the recovery and return of war dead.  The agreement, known as Operation Glory (OPGLORY,) resulted in the turnover of 4,200 sets of remains to the UNC, including more than 400 sets reportedly disinterred from Pyongyang.  One set of remains, designated X-16680 OPGLORY could not be identified, and were subsequently interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu (known as the Punchbowl), as an Unknown.

In June 2017, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-16680 OPGLORY for identification.

To identify Rix’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.  Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Today, 7,663 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams.  Rix’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.