Found & Never Forgotten: Los Lunas soldier’s body returned, buried nearly 75 years after he was killed in Korean War

The remains of a lost Los Lunas soldier have been returned to the U.S. and recently buried in Texas.

On Jan. 7, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that U.S. Army Pfc. Arthur A. Clifton, 17, of Los Lunas, who was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Aug. 19, 2024.

Private First Class Clifton entered the U.S. Army from New Mexico and served in Headquarters Battery, 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th infantry Division.

In November 1950, elements of this division were formed into the 31st Regimental Combat Team and deployed on the east shore of the Chosin Reservoir.

As part of a large-scale offensive, troops of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Force launched an assault on the 31st RCT’s positions near midnight on Nov. 27. By Dec. 1, the 31st RCT has been forced to consolidate its positions and was running low on ammunition and supplies.

Other U.S. forces in the area had rallied in the town of Hagaru-ri, at the south end of the reservoir, and the surrounded members of the 31st RCT formed a column to attempt a breakout toward the town. In the evening of Dec. 1, the column encountered a strong enemy position in the town of Hudong-ni.

An attempt to break through the enemy position failed, and the 31st RCT was destroyed as a fighting force. Some survivors managed to reach friendly lines by crossing the frozen reservoir or moving cross country in small groups.

U.S. forces, including PFC Clifton, held a perimeter around Hagaru-ri until withdrawing on Dec. 6. Over the next several days, the beleaguered U.S. forces moved south towards evacuation from the port of Hamhung. The column endured freezing conditions and continual attacks from enemy forces before reaching Hamhung on Dec. 12.

PFC Clifton was reported missing in action as of Dec. 11, but the exact circumstances of his loss are unknown.

In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated 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 on Jan. 16, 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown solider in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In July 2018, after disinterring 211 Korean War unknowns as single sets of remains or small groups from the NMCP, DPAA submitted a request to disinter all 652 remaining Korean War unknowns interred at the cemetery. 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 was buried in San Antonio, Texas, in January.