Remains of Indiana soldier killed in Korean War identified

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that an Indianapolis man killed during the Korean War was accounted for earlier this year.

According to a release, Army Master Sgt. Wallace Simmons Jr., was a member of Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in Action on December 6, 1950, after his unit was engaged with enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. His remains were unable to be recovered.

Following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes purported to be the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. Scientists from DPAA were able to identify Simmons' remains using anthropological and isotope analysis.

Simmons' name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission's Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Simmons will be buried in Indianapolis at a later date.