Army Private First Class Arthur A. Clifton
VA News:
Korean War Army Private First Class Arthur A. Clifton will finally be laid to rest after his remains were identified almost 75 years later.
All are invited to attend the ceremony and pay their respects. The service, at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, will include full military honors and caisson.
Clifton was a Korean War soldier who fought in the “Frozen Chosin”. The service is 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31 at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in the Assembly Area, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road, San Antonio, Texas 78209.
Background
On Thanksgiving Day 1950, American-led United Nations troops were on the march in North Korea. Hopes were high that everyone would be home by Christmas, but military leaders were caught off guard by the entrance of the People’s Republic of China into the five-month-old Korean War. Twelve thousand men of the First Marine Division, along with a few thousand Army soldiers, suddenly found themselves surrounded, outnumbered, and at risk of annihilation at the Chosin Reservoir, high in the mountains of North Korea.
More than a thousand U.S. service members were killed and thousands more were wounded in battle or incapacitated by cold weather. Many were buried where they fell, and due to the cold weather and the retreat of UN Forces, hundreds were unable to be immediately recovered.
Only 17 years old at the time, Clifton was a member of Headquarters Battery, 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 11.
In 1954 during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set designated as Unknown X-15690 Operation Glory. The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries, and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Clifton and he was declared non-recoverable in 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 2018, after disinterring 211 Korean War Unknowns as single sets of remains or small groups from the NMCP, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) submitted a request to disinter all 652 remaining Korean War Unknowns interred there. By 2021, DPAA disinterred X-15690, and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Clifton’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Clifton was accounted for on Aug. 19, 2024. His name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with those who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. VA’s National Cemetery Administration is proud to have cared for Pfc. Clifton at NMCP for nearly 70 years and are honored that his final resting place will be the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
About Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery:
Established in 1937, the 336-acre cemetery Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery richly landscaped grounds serve as a final resting place for many of America’s brave and beloved men and women, including twelve Veterans who were awarded the Medal of Honor. Other notables include Captain William Randolph for whom Randolph Air Force Base is named; 17 members of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment who were executed for their participation in the 1917 Houston Riot; LTC Karen Wagner, a casualty of the 9/11/2001 plane crash at the Pentagon; and 27 Buffalo Soldiers from the 9th and 10th Cavalry, who served during the Indian Wars era.
Burial in a VA national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces and Veterans who have met minimum active duty service requirements, as applicable by law and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty under certain circumstances or who die while on training duty are also eligible for burial, as are service members and former service members who were eligible for retired pay at the time of their death. Spouses, minor children and, under certain conditions, dependent unmarried adult children are also eligible for burial even if they predecease the Veteran.
VA offers a unique way to pay tribute to Veterans on the Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM) website. The site, originally launched in 2019, contains a memorial page for each Veteran and service member interred in a VA national cemetery. The online tribute allows visitors to voice memories and appreciation for a Veteran’s service. All comments will be reviewed for appropriateness prior to being posted.
For more information, call 800.535.1117 or visit www.cem.va.gov.