Data Sources - Air Force Manual No. 200-25A, Department of the Air Force, Washington, October 16, 1961  page 1. Sanitized copy. National Archives KOREAN Conflict Casualty File (KCCF) 1950-1954.

03/92 -- Korea, and the men yet to be accounted for -- the "official list" --  is a list of U.S. servicemen known to have been held as prisoners of war by the red Chinese and North Koreans from the Korean War but not released or accounted for by the communists, as released on May 27, 1957 at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on the Far East and Pacific by the Department of Defense.

The lists, the printed minutes of the May 27, 1957 hearing and the "sense of congress" resolution were subsequently buried in the archives. The original list had 450 names compiled from American POWS who were repatriated by the Reds, as well as from photographs released by the Reds, Chinese radio propaganda broadcasts, and letters written home by captured men. The "revised" list was narrowed down in august of 1961 to 389 men, and all were arbitrarily declared dead by the military services, the USG still lists them as "unaccounted for".

Names and ranks only were released at the time, and printed in "The Spotlight" on August 27, 1979, along with the above information and background. Further information has been compiled by the P.O.W. Network from the Hawaii POW/MIA Korean Memorial records, National Archives documentation, and public United States Air Force documentation, and changes made to the original published information. (FEBRUARY 1992)
 

Donald Bolt is listed on the "HONOR ROLL OF FORGOTTEN AMERICANS" yet is noted as having died "while missing" by the National Archive.

03/11/2021

Captain Donald David Bolt, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Maryland, was a member of the Headquarters Squadron, 18th Fighter-Bomber Group. On October 2, 1950, he took off from Seoul Air Base, South Korea, piloting an F-51 Mustang (tail number 44-84982A) as the number two aircraft in a four-plane armed reconnaissance operation in the Pyongyang area of North Korea. During the mission, while making an attack dive on a train engine north of Pyongyang, Capt Bolt's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. The Mustang caught fire, forcing Capt Bolt to crash land north of Pyongyang. The other pilots on the mission reported that Capt Bolt eventually emerged from the wreckage and indicated that he was injured. They then radioed for a rescue helicopter before returning to base. A rescue helicopter was never able to reach Capt Bolt's position, and he was not seen or heard from again. No returning POWs mentioned having contact with Capt Bolt, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. He has not been associated with any remains returned to U.S. custody after the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Bolt is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.  Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Deferred. If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

Capt DONALD DAVID BOLT Unit HQ Squadron 18th Fighter-Bomber Group Country of Loss North Korea Home of Record MD