Ensign Robert W. Langwell : Korea

The Department of Defense today:

Sailor Missing From Korean War Identified​

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
U.S. Navy Ensign Robert W. Langwell, of Columbus, Ind., will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on July 12. On Oct. 1, 1950, Langwell was serving on the minesweeper USS Magpie when it sank after striking an enemy mine off the coast of Chuksan-ri, South Korea. Twelve crewmen were rescued, but Langwell was one of 20 men lost at sea.
In June 2008, personnel from the Republic of South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense Agency for Killed in Action Recovery and Identification (MAKRI) canvassed towns in South Korea in an effort to gather information regarding South Korean soldiers unaccounted-for from the Korean War. An elderly fisherman, interviewed in the village of Chuksan-ri, reported that he and other villagers had buried an American serviceman in 1950 when his body was caught in the man’s fishing net.
The MAKRI located the burial site on April 28, 2009, where they excavated human remains and military artifacts. The burial site was approximately three miles west of where the USS Magpie sank in 1950. The team turned the remains and artifacts over to U.S. Forces Korea, which sent them to Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command for analysis.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, JPAC scientists used dental comparisons in the identification of Langwell’s remains.
With Langwell’s accounting, 8,025 service members still remain missing from the Korean War.
Defense.gov News Release: Sailor Missing From Korean War Identified

Columbus - Until a year and a half ago, Robert W. Langwell was a name on a monument in downtown Columbus for Brenda Showalter, one of Bartholomew county's native sons killed serving his country.
"I never met him. He was my mother's first cousin," said Showalter.
"He was killed in 1950, quite a bit before I was born," she added.
But now, Showalter is part of the reason Langwell is finally coming home, 60 years after he was killed off the coast of South Korea.
Langwell was aboard the USS Magpie when it hit an enemy mine and sank on October 1st 1950. His body was never recovered.
But that changed more than a year ago.
"This person called us and said, 'Well, we've found your relative that went down in the Korean War,'" Langwell explained.
Showalter says Langwell's journey home began with an elderly fisherman in South Korea who told a story about the young sailor he'd buried after he'd found the body tangled in his fishing net.
"He showed them where the burial sight was and sure enough, there he was," said Showalter.
But just to be sure, Showalter and her sister gave DNA samples.
"Now they can identify people that maybe before they've never been able to identify before," explained Showalter.
"I'm so glad that I could do this for him though I didn't know him, I'm glad that we can do this for him," she said.
Langwell's family thought about bringing him home to Columbus, the town where he was born. Instead, they opted for a funeral with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
"It will give me a sense of peace that he's there in this place that honors soldiers. And he'll get the respect and his gravesite will be respected," said Showalter.
After 60 years, Ensign Robert W. Langwell is coming home.

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=12738459