Federal, Private Effort Attempts to Link MIAs with Unidentified Remains
WEST CHESTER, July 25, 2007 - State Sen. Andy Dinniman is asking the public’s help in tracking down relatives of Master Sgt. John Gerhard Linkowski, a Chester County resident who went Missing in Action (MIA) in 1950 while serving in the Korean War.
Dinniman was recently approached by the Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs, which is assisting the federal government in linking Pennsylvania’s MIAs with remains being held in Hawaii at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Central Identification Laboratory. Coalition President Robin Piacine asked Dinniman and fellow legislators to help find the relatives of 340 Pennsylvania soldiers who went missing in action in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and are presumed dead.
“For so many of us who are still missing loved ones who have served their country and have become unaccounted for, we are hoping and praying for the day that we can lay our loved ones to rest … a place that we can visit … and in an honorable way,” Piacine said on Thursday. “This project helps bring us closer to that day.”
Dinniman took up the cause of finding Linkowski’s relatives after cross-referencing the list of Pennsylvania MIAs with names listed on Chester County Hall of Heroes, a monument to the county’s fallen veterans.
“A national and international effort is now underway to account for the unidentified remains of missing U.S. servicemen and women. Obtaining DNA from surviving family members is the key to putting names and faces on the fallen and providing closure for some families. That is why I am appealing to the public for any and all information about Master Sgt. Linkowski and his relatives,” Dinniman said.
Little is known about Linkowski except that he was born on June 22, 1919, and resided in Chester County. An Army heavy weapons infantryman with Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Calvary Division, Linkowski was listed as MIA on Nov. 2, 1950, while fighting the enemy near Unsan, North Korea. He was officially presumed dead three years later. For his leadership and valor, Linkowski was awarded the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart and various other service medals.
The federal government is seeking relatives from Linkowski’s mother’s side of the family because they share the same mitochondrial DNA. That includes Linkowski’s brothers, sisters and sisters’ children, among others. Scientists use mitochondrial DNA because it is abundant, long lasting and does not vary much from generation to generation. Combined with other evidence it is a powerful tool in identifying the remains of missing soldiers.
“We need to do what we can to provide closure for the survivors of those soldiers who went missing in action and for the whole nation,” Dinniman said. “I am dedicated to working for the fullest possible accounting of all of our missing servicemen and women.”
If you have any information about John Gerhard Linkowski, his family or other missing soldiers from the Chester and Montgomery County area, please call Sen. Dinniman’s West Chester office at 610-692-2112 or e-mail andydinniman@pasenate.com.
### |
