Korean War soldier killed in action to get proper burial in Georgia hometown this month

VALDOSTA, Ga. — A U.S. Army Master Sergeant’s remains will return home to Valdosta by the end of January for burial.

According to the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, U.S. Army Master Sgt. Roy E. Barrow, a Valdosta native, will be returned to Georgia for burial on Jan. 27.

He was officially accounted for and identified in Sept. 2023, after being reported missing in action on Dec. 12, 1950.

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Barrow was a veteran of World War II, but continued to serve in the U.S. Military after the war, DPAA said.

DPAA said that like many of his comrades who remained in the service, his rank was reduced to Master Sergeant when he was called to serve in the Korean War. Barrow joined King Company and was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.

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In 1950, he was killed while his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, and he was reported missing in action. The exact circumstances of his loss remain unknown, according to officials.

In 1954, North Korea turned over the remains of soldiers back to the United States during Operation Glory.

“The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites,” DPAA said in a statement. “None of the remains could be identified as Barrow and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.”

One set of remains brought back, designated Unknown X-15869 Operation Glory, was disinterred in 2013 by the DPAA.

Decades after being reported non-recoverable, X-15869 was identified as Barrow and a rosette was placed by his name on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl to show he was identified and accounted for.

MSG Barrow will be returned to Valdosta and buried on Jan. 27, 2024.

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