PURPLE HEART MEDAL
Friendly Fire Victims now eligible for the Purple Heart Medal. During the Vietnam War over thirty percent of US injuries and fatalities were caused by friendly fire... Americans firing on other Americans. During the Gulf Campaign, over fifty percent of US casualties were caused by friendly fire. To recognize these injured and dead Americans the Purple Heart can now be issued either to the victim or to a member of his/her family. To view the new regulations awarding the Purple Heart to friendly fire victims, see URL: http://www.amervets.com/phmedl.htm#phm For information on how to apply for the Purple Heart Medal, see URL: http://members.aol.com/forvets/htom.htm For information on Friendly Fire, see URL: http://members.aol.com/amerwar/ff/ff.htm Otis Willie, Associate Librarian The American War Library http://www.americanwarlibrary.com MORE REGISTERED FOR 2003 REUNION AS OF 11 AUG 2003: Names of the first 12 Marines/guests appeared in the July Issue: Tex Bauer Col. Van & Hilda Bell Gabe Conde Ray & Betty Cullin Jim & Ginger Dearing |
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Dave Hatch Buddy Hixon (C Co) Ray & Charlotte James David & Joan Jepsen Gene & June Jordan Bob & Mickey Licker Jack & Rosemary Marshall Gene & Jeanie Merrall Billy & Kathy Mitchell Joe Ott Russ & Scott Satterfield Jerry & Phyllis Schutz Nick Spehar Dick & Kash Stone Gebo & Helene Venturdo SUICIDE CHARLEY MARINE COMES HOME Thursday, May 22, 2003 'Unknown' Marine from Korean War identified Pfc. Ronald Lilledahl of Minnesota was among 866 buried at Pacific memorial. By ROBERT BURNS The Associated Press WASHINGTON - For the first time, an American serviceman buried as an unknown from the Korean War has been identified and his remains returned to his family, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The remains were identified as those of Marine Pfc. Ronald D. Lilledahl of Minneapolis. His remains and those of one other unknown were exhumed in September 1999 from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. Officials hoped that advances in DNA technology would enable forensics experts to positively identify several dozen of the 866 sets of remains buried there after |
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the war ended in 1953.
Between 1999 and 2002, the Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii submitted 10 bone or dental samples from the two sets of exhumed remains, but the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory was unable to extract usable mitochondrial DNA data from either set. Later, Army scientists found a postage-stamp sized chest X-ray in Lilledahl's medical records. Enlarged many times, it showed a "very strong consistency" with the remains, the Pentagon said. The final piece of what the Pentagon called confirming evidence that the remains were Lilledahl's came from a new computer program that enables forensics scientists to compare dental remains to a vast database of almost 40,000 dental patterns in the United States. Lilledahl's identical twin brother, Donald, said his entire family is thrilled by the news. A memorial service is planned for June 13 at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. According to Pentagon records, Lilledahl's unit, Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, was surrounded by Chinese forces on the west side of the Chosin Reservoir in the far north of North Korea on Nov. 28, 1950. He and his unit were cut off from supporting forces. Lilledahl was said to have been killed by Chinese fire during a daylong battle and buried in a shallow grave. His fellow Marines later retrieved his body. |
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