MIAs in incident; Wormack, Thelbert B.; Burton, Woodrow
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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)
Woodrow Burton is listed on the "HONOR ROLL OF FORGOTTEN AMERICANS" yet is noted as having died "while missing" by the National Archive.
03/11/2021
- KOREAN WAR
- UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
- Unaccounted For
Captain Woodrow Burton, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Illinois, was a member of the 40th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group. On October 2, 1950, he took off from Tsuiki Air Base, Japan, piloting an F-51D Mustang (tail number 44-74072) as the number two aircraft in a four-plane attack mission against enemy targets north of Pyongyang, North Korea. While flying over the target area, Capt Burton's Mustang was hit by enemy fire. He was forced to bail out, landing northeast of Pyongyang. Other pilots on the mission saw civilians surround Capt Burton immediately after he landed. The other pilots circled for a short time until Capt Burton indicated that he was alright, prompting the other three aircraft to return to base. Heavy enemy presence in the area prevented ground search and rescue operations for Capt Woodrow. No returning POWs mentioned having contact with Capt Burton, 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 ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Burton 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.