News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Korean War DNA

Date: May 29, 2001

"Site Solicits Servicemen's Kin DNA
Updated: Mon, May 28 9:46 AM EDT (AP)By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press Writer

DALLAS (AP) - Hal and Ted Barker get about 3,000 visitors a day to their Web site to share memories about the Korean War and information about missing servicemen.

The brothers also hope they will share their DNA to help the government in a project that strives to use the material to identify the remains of missing soldiers from the war. To complete identification, the government needs DNA samples from soldiers' relatives.

Seventeen recovery operations in North Korea have produced 107 sets of remains, said Larry Greer, spokesman for the Department of Defense POW/MIA Office. "Our operations are expanding in North Korea. That work will continue to grow," Greer said.

The Korean War Project site lists nearly 6,000 servicemen for whom the government needs a relative's DNA sample.

About 2,500 people have given samples; the bodies of 20 people have been identified as a result, Greer said.

Hal Barker, 53, said he became interested in the Korean War because his father served in the war but wouldn't discuss his experiences.

"This all started because he would not talk about these medals," Barker said, pointing to a black-and-white picture of his father in uniform taken in 1956.

He wrote to the government to ask about his father's medals and learned he had been a war hero. His father, a helicopter pilot, was awarded the Silver Star for trying repeatedly to rescue a downed pilot at Heartbreak Ridge in 1951.

For six years, the brothers have run the nonprofit Web site by themselves, answering all the e-mails and telephone calls. They are supported by donations.

"We literally live month to month," said Ted Barker, 56.

Jim Heath, 54, of Austin, said his 102-year-old grandmother provided DNA in hopes of identifying Heath's father. A U.S. Air Force pilot, his father was reported missing in December 1950 when Heath was 4.

"They couldn't find a piece to identify the aircraft because it was deep within North Korea," Heath said.

Heath said he knows the odds are long that his father's remains will be identified. But he would like to bury the man who used to let him ride on his shoulders.

"I'd like to have it happen while I'm still on this earth," he said. "Say a last goodbye to him." "