Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Konze, A.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Anthony Konze, 20, of Brooklyn, New York, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Dec. 18, 2024.
Konze’s family recently received their full briefing on is identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In July 1950, Konze was a member of C Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Sept. 1 in the vicinity of Changyong in the Republic of Korea. There was no evidence that he was held as a prisoner of war. A finding of death was issued for Konze on May 7, 1954.
In 1954, the United Nations Command and the Chinese Communist Forces exchanged the remains of fallen service personnel in an effort named Operation GLORY. Konze’s remains could not be identified by the Central Identification Unit Laboratory at Kokura, Japan, at the time, and were designated Unknown X-5046. In 1956, all of the unidentified Korean War remains, including X-5046 were transported and buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, DPAA historians and anthropologists proposed a plan to disinter and identify the 652 Korean War unknown burials from the Punchbowl. X-5046 was disinterred in 2021 during Phase 3 of the Korean War Disinterment Project and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory.
To identify Konze’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis as well as chest radiograph comparison. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner Systemused mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Konze’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monument Commission’s 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.
Konze will be buried in Canton, Georgia, in July 2025.
