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)
 

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

NOTE:  see Crane, Alvin Earl

03/11/2021

On November 30, 1950, a B-26 Invader (serial number 44-35941, call sign "Duncan Dog Seven" and nicknamed "Black Noop Gnat") took off from Iwakuni Air Base carrying three crew members on a combat mission against enemy forces in North Korea. The intended targets included enemy troop concentrations and vehicle convoys in the Chunma Mountains in northwestern Korea. The Invader was contacted by radio on the morning of December 1, when it flying was near Seoul, South Korea and still en route to its targets. However, the aircraft was not heard from again and never returned from the mission. A search of friendly airfields found no sign of "Black Noop Gnat" or its crew. Because of unknown circumstances surrounding the loss area in enemy-held territory, no crash site was located. The three crew members aboard the aircraft remain unaccounted-for. First Lieutenant John Robert Coulter, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Pennsylvania, was a member of the 13th Bombardment Squadron, 3rd Bombardment Group (Light). He was a crew member aboard "Black Noop Gnat" when it went missing on November 30, 1950, and was not seen or heard from following the aircraft’s disappearance. Today, First Lieutenant Coulter 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.

1st Lt JOHN ROBERT COULTER Unit 13th Bombardment Squadron (Light) Country of Loss North Korea Home of Record PA