VIRGIE, Ky. (AP) — A funeral will be held this week for a Kentucky soldier killed during the Korean War, Fort Knox said.
The remains of Army Cpl. Burl Mullins will be interred Saturday at Osborne Cemetery in the Dorton community in Pike County after a funeral service in Virgie.
Mullins was a Dorton native and was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, when he was reported missing in action Nov. 30, 1950. His unit had been attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
His remains could not be recovered after the battle, and it was later learned he had been taken prisoner of war. He was 23 years old.
On July 27, 2018, following the summit between then- President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification. To identify Mullins’ remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. Mullins’ 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 still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
