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Remains Of Soldier Killed In Korean War Are Home For Burial In Escambia County

The remains of an Escambia County soldier killed during the Korean War have returned home, and his funeral service will be held Tuesday.

In the summer of 1950, U.S. Army Pfc. Ithiel E. Whatley, 19, of Pensacola, was awarded the Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with one Bronze Service Star, Presidential Unit Citation, Combat Infantry Badge, United Nations Service Medal, Republic of Korean War Service Medal and Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.

Whatley was a member of M Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 12 after this unit was engaged in a fighting withdrawal south of Chochi’won, South Korea, towards the Kum River. While it is possible Whatley was captured, there was no record or eyewitness accounts of him being held as a prisoner of war, and no recovered remains were ever identified as him. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on January 4, 1954 and declared Whatley non-recoverable in January 1956.

On October 6, 1950, a set of remains, designated X-143 Taejon, was recovered from the Kum River and transported to the United Nations Military Cemetery Taejon, where they were buried with 164 sets of remains previously recovered from the area where Whatley is believed to have gone missing. X-143 was sent with other unidentified remains to the Central Identification Unit – Kokura in Japan in 1951, but was unable to be identified. They were then transported to Hawaii in 1956 where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as Punchbowl Cemetery, with the other unknowns from the Korean War.

In July 2019, during Phase 2 of DPAA’s Korean War Disinterment Project, X-143 Taejon was disinterred from the Punchbowl and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

To identify Whatley’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.

Whatley’s name is recorded on the 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.

Graveside services with full military honors will be held at Barrancas National Cemetery Tuesday, April 4 at 3 p.m.

He was survived by his mother, Willie Inez Whatley Warren and brother Nathaniel Mack who have both since died and his sister Roylene Mack Hairelson who is still living.