BROKEN BOW, Okla. (KFOR) – The family of an Oklahoma soldier killed in the Korean War finally has closure after the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) confirmed the identity of his remains in March.

Broken Bow native, U.S. Army Pvt. Alvin D. Thurman was a member of 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division.

Thurman was reported killed in action Nov. 6 after his unit’s withdrawal from Hill 200 near the 38th parallel. He was 21 years old.

In Dec. 1951, the , American Graves Registration Service recovered a set of remains designated ‘X-5106 Tanggok’ south of Hill 200.

On June 27, 1955, the remains were declared unidentifiable and subsequently transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and interred as an Unknown.

On Nov. 5, 2018, X-5106 Tanggok was sent to the laboratory for analysis to identify the soldier.

In order to identify Thurman’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis.

Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Thurman’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, 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.

Thurman will be buried in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, on Oct. 21, 2023.