Daniel Prince
Cpl. Ralph Boughman reported missing in action in December 1950; remains identified in April 2020
On May 15, a Union County soldier who gave his all in the Korean War was laid to rest in Union County. Cpl. Ralph Sarratt Boughman was a member of Company B, 1st Batallion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. During the Korean War he was reported missing in action on December 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. He was presumed dead on December 21, 1953. On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, believed to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. His remains were identified on April 20, 2020, using circumstantial and material evidence and mitochondrial and autosomal DNA analysis. Boughman’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, 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. More than 7600 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.