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)
Joyce Dorsey is listed on the "HONOR ROLL OF FORGOTTEN AMERICANS" yet is noted as having died "while missing" by the National Archive.
03/12/2021
- KOREAN WAR
- UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
- Unaccounted For
On October 3, 1950, a B-26 Invader (tail number 44-34237, call sign "Kildeer 6") with a crew of three took off from Iwakuni Air Base, Japan, on a bombing mission targeting enemy troops and vehicle convoys on the main supply route between Haeju and Pyongyang, North Korea. While en route to the target area, before entering enemy territory, the crew made contact with the air controller at Taegu Air Base; this was the last contact with the Invader and its crew. It failed to return from the mission, and checks at friendly airbases in the area found no sign of the missing aircraft. A few days later, another U.S. aircraft spotted the missing Invader's wreckage near Haeju, North Korea. It seemed to have been downed by enemy ground fire. There were no signs of survivors, and all three members of the Invader's crew remain unaccounted for.
Technical Sergeant Joyce Merlin Dorsey, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Kansas, was a member of the 13th Bombardment Squadron, 3rd Bombardment Group. He was the gunner aboard this Invader when it went down and was lost with the aircraft. No returning POWs mentioned having contact with TSgt Dorsey, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. His remains have not been located or identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Technical Sergeant Dorsey 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.