Remains of Va. Soldiers Killed in Battle Are Found

The remains of two Virginia men who were killed in action while serving in the Army during the Korean War have been identified and will be returned to their families, the Defense Department announced.

The two soldiers are Capt. Edward B. Scullion of Norfolk and Pfc. Elwood D. Reynolds of Schoolfield.

Reynolds's remains are to be buried in Danville, Va., on April 18; Scullion's, this summer at Arlington National Cemetery, the Defense Department said.

Reynolds was younger than 20 when he was killed. Scullion was 31.

Scullion's daughter, Mary S. Battaglia, who lives in the Tidewater area, was 6 when her father left for Korea, and she lived most of her life without being certain where he was.

"I have known for almost 60 years that he was gone," she said, but the identification "is a cause for celebration and a joyous thing."

She said she wished that any attention received by the family be focused on her father and on the Defense Department and other personnel, including forensic scientists, who devoted themselves to obtaining the remains and making the identifications.

They are, she said, "extremely dedicated" and among "the best and brightest."

The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office said Friday that Scullion and Reynolds were members of the same company in the 32nd Infantry Regiment, which was part of the 31st Regimental Combat Team in the 7th Infantry Division.

According to the American Battle Monuments Commission's Korean War Honor Roll Web site, Scullion was killed Nov. 28, 1950, while defending his position east of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea.

"He came out of his command post," his daughter said, "to alert his troops that they were under attack" at a time when there had been no sign of opposing forces. He received "multiple wounds," she said.

Scullion and Reynolds died in late November 1950, but "their bodies were not recovered at the time," the Pentagon said.