Returned Korean War dog tag belonged to Army medic
Soldier’s remains may be included in those returned
WASHINGTON — The lone military identification tag that North Korea provided with 55 boxes of human remains last month belonged to Master Sgt. Charles H. McDaniel, an Army medic from Indiana who was killed in the opening months of the Korean War.
The Army on Wednesday handed McDaniel’s slightly corroded dog tag to his sons, Charles Jr. and Larry, who were so young when their father perished that they have little memory of him. Charles, 71, told reporters he was moved to tears when he got the phone call at home in Indianapolis last week informing him that his father’s dog tag had been returned.
“It’s a very mixed, jumbled moment for us,” he said, referring to the emotions he and his brother feel so many years after having grown up without their biological father, never knowing for sure what happened to him in a war many Americans have forgotten.
“At least we have this,” he said, pointing to the dog tag, imprinted with the name, Charles Hobert McDaniel, and a service number.
Charles Jr., of Indianapolis, told reporters he has no recollection of what his family was told when his father was reported missing in action.
Larry, 70, of Jacksonville, Florida, said he has no memory at all of his father, but “I’m proud of what he did and what he accomplished.”
The dog tag is no assurance that McDaniel’s remains are among those contained in the 55 boxes that the North Korean army turned over the U.S. officials at Wonsan, North Korea, on July 27. John Byrd, director of the Defense Department laboratory in Hawaii that is beginning the process of attempting to identify the remains, said the condition of the bones is judged to be “moderate to poor preservation,” meaning few are whole bones and all are quite old.