Military identifies remains of missing soldier

In July 1950, Rowland was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 16 while fighting North Korean forces along the Kum River north of Taejon, South Korea. His unit was attempting to withdraw through an enemy roadblock outside Taejon, and he was not seen again.

He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that could be identified as Rowland. He was declared non-recoverable in January 1956.

In February 1951, four sets of remains were recovered at the foot of a bridge west of the Seoul-Taejon main supply route and south of Taepyong-ni. Three of the individuals were identified as casualties from the 19th Inf. Reg., but the fourth was unable to be identified. Those remains were designated Unknown X-418 Tanggok and were later transported with all of the unidentified Korean War remains 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-418 was disinterred March 4, 2019, as part of Phase 1 of the Korean War Identification Project and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

To identify Rowland’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Rowland’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.

He was the son of Francis H. Rowland.