Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (Higgins, F.)

Washington  –  
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Corporal Frederick A. Higgins, 20, of Bremerton, Washington, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for June 22, 2023.

In June 1950, Higgins was a member of Medical Detachment, 15th Anti-aircraft Artillery, Automatic Weapons Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army in the Korean theatre. Higgins was captured as a prisoner of war (POW) after his unit was forced to retreat from Hagaru-ri in the vicinity of Jangjin, North Korea. In 1953, several POWs returned during Operation Big Switch reported Higgins had been a prisoner of war and died in July 1951, at Prisoner of War Camp #1.

In the fall of 1953, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Changsong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #1, to the United Nations Command. However, Higgins’ name did not appear on any of the transfer rosters and the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, did not associate him with any repatriated remains. Higgins was determined to be non-recoverable in January 1956.

In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In January 2020, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14169, a set of remains returned during Operation Glory, as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Higgins’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Higgins’ 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.

Higgins will be buried in Kent, Washington, on Sept. 20, 2024.