Army Pfc. Philip T. Hoogacker was last seen after receiving first aid for a minor shrapnel wound. DPAA historians believe Hoogacker was captured by the Korean People’s Army and forcibly marched to Seoul and then on to Pyongyang, where he died as a prisoner of war. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)
DETROIT (Tribune News Service) — The body of a Michigan soldier killed during the Korean has been recovered.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Tuesday that Army Pfc. Philip T. Hoogacker, 23, of Detroit, was accounted for on April 16. He will be buried in Livonia, Mich., on July 23.
Scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis to identify Hoogacker, who was reported missing in action on July 27, 1950 after his unit was attacked near Anui, South Korea.
He was last seen after receiving first aid for a minor shrapnel wound. DPAA historians believe Hoogacker was captured by the Korean People’s Army and forcibly marched to Seoul and then on to Pyongyang, where he died as a prisoner of war.
In the fall of 1954, the United Nations struck a deal with North Korea and China regarding the recovery and return of war dead to their rightful nations, however Hoogacker was included in an unidentified group burial that was sent to Hawaii.
Hoogacker’s name was recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, along with 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.
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