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.
MIAs in incident; Wormack, Thelbert B.; Burton, Woodrow
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)
Thelbert Wormack is listed on the "HONOR ROLL OF FORGOTTEN AMERICANS" yet is noted as having died "while missing" by the National Archive.
03/13/2021
- KOREAN WAR
- UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
- Unaccounted For
First Lieutenant Thelbert Bernard Wormack, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Ohio, was assigned to the 40th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 35th Fighter-Bomber Group. On the morning of August 14, 1950, he piloted an F-51D Mustang (tail number 44-73560) in a flight of two. The briefed mission was an armed reconnaissance operation over Waegwan, South Korea. During the mission, 1st Lt Wormack’s engine began to emit smoke, and he was forced to bail out; the Mustang crashed in a dry riverbed. 1st Lt Wormack's wingman observed the downed pilot walking northwest toward railroad tracks. On his next pass over the area, the wingman lost sight of 1st Lt Wormack but observed five enemy soldiers searching the area. After scattering the soldiers, the wingman resumed his search but was unable to locate the downed pilot. Once this area returned to the control of the United Nations Command, Army Graves Registration Service teams investigated the crash site and interviewed local nationals without positive results. Additionally, no returning prisoners of war (POWs) mentioned contact with 1st Lt Wormack, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. He remains unaccounted-for. Today, First Lieutenant Wormack 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 Active Pursuit.
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.