James Thomas Higgins, age 20, from Kentucky, Harlan county.
Parents: Samuel E. Higgins
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, November 1, 1950
Death details: On May 2, 2000, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant James Thomas Higgins, missing from the Korean War. Sergeant Higgins, who entered the U.S. Army from Kentucky, served with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, SGT Higgins was killed by a grenade explosion during combat with Chinese Communist Forces in Pyongan Province, North Korea. His remains were buried near the battlefield where he fell, but could not be recovered at the time. In 1997, U.S. analysts traveled to Pyong-an Province and excavated a burial site correlating to an area where the 8th Cavalry Regiment fought during the Korean War. The site yielded the commingled remains of four individuals along with military and other artifacts, and U.S. forensic analysts eventually identified SGT Higgins from among these remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Courier Journal (1950)