In the Winter of 1950, Korean War soldier U.S. Army Pfc. Arthur A. Clifton, 17, was reported missing in action on Dec. 11 after his unit was attacked by Chinese Communist Forces near the Chasin Reservoir, North Korea.
After over two decades of being MIA, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced this January that the soldier has been identified and accounted for, and is now back in Texas where he will be laid to rest this January.
Pfc. Clifton’s nephew, Wade Holland, contacted us this week to give us the news. Holland’s mother (Arthur’s sister), Lydia Holland, lives in Devine.
“Department of Defense personnel came to our house to tell us of the identification and provided a lot of information on the events that lead to Arthur’s death and how the identification process unfolded,” Mr. Holland said “My mom and I have been actively working with DPAA for 25 years to get to this point.”

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Pfc. Clifton was a member of Headquarters Battery, 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division when he went Missing in Action in December of 1950.
“My mom was here with me, my wife, and our daughter during the visit. Arthur quit school as soon as he turned 17 to join the Army. My mom was only 9 years old when he left.”
“She remembers giving him a quarter when he got on the bus to leave so he could get a drink,” Holland said. It’s one of very few memories she has about her brother, having been so young when he left for war. A small act of kindness between a brother and his beloved little sister which we are sure wasn’t forgotten by either one.
A press release from the Dept of Defense, explains, “In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15690 Operation Glory. Those 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 on Jan. 16, 1956.”
“The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In July 2018, after disinterring 211 Korean War Unknowns from the NMCP, DPAA submitted a request to disinter all 652 remaining Korean War Unknowns interred at the NMCP. By March 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’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, 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.”
Clifton will be buried in San Antonio, Texas, in January 31, 2025. For funeral information, see Pfc. Clifton’s obituary in this week’s Devine News.
According to the Dept of Defense, “Under 7,500 Americans are still unaccounted-for from the Korean War, hundreds of whom are believed to be in a “non-recoverable” category, meaning that after rigorous investigation DPAA has determined that the individual perished but does not believe it is possible to recover the remains. On rare occasions, new leads can bring a case back to active status.”
“Since 1982, the remains of over 450 Americans killed in the Korean War have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors. This number is in addition to the roughly 2,000 Americans whose remains were identified in the years following the end of hostilities, when the North Korean government returned over 3,000 sets of remains to U.S. custody.”
To see the most up-to-date statistics on DPAA recovery efforts for those unaccounted for from the
Korean War, go to the Korean War fact sheet on the DPAA website at:
https://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article View/Article/56961
0/progress-on-korean-war-personnel-accounting/.
An article on DPAA states, “Every U.S. Warfighter who answers the nation’s call carries a solemn promise: they will never be forgotten.”