Corporal James B. Sanders - A Case Under Review ---- Coalition of Families

Corporal James B. Sanders - A Case Under Review

Jim Sanders grew up on a farm in Arkansas with his parents, two sisters and two brothers. In 1947, Jim’s dad died, and Jim took over as head of his family. He was not quite 15 years old. He left school and started growing crops and farming like his father had before him.

In May of 1950, his mother having remarried, Jim joined the Army to finish his education in service. It was peacetime and Jim had nothing else directing his life. He was 17 then. A month later, war broke out in Korea and, by September, Jim was on his way to a place far away from his family and their farm.

On December 2, not three months after his arrival in Korea, and just 15 days before his 18th birthday, Jim fought as part of the 32nd Infantry Regiment at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. It was a disastrous battle in which many men were lost, Jim Sanders among them. He was reported Missing in Action and his family, like thousands of other American families, began to wait for word.

In July of 1952, Jim was referenced as a POW in the communist propaganda book titled American Boys Calling From Korea. Jim’s name was then added to a roster of men whose fate was unknown, about whom there was information that they had, at one time, been alive in enemy hands.

In May of 1953, while still missing in Korea, Jim was promoted to the rank of Corporal.

The war ended in July. POWs were returned over that summer, and Corporal James Sanders was not among them.

The roster of men with unknown fates was given to returning POWs after Operations Big and Little Switch. A copy of the instruction sheet to officials who would review the roster with the repatriated men bears handwritten notations which indicate that Jim was one of 54 men about whom information had been learned from returning POWs.

In September of 1955, after remains of some American war dead were returned during Operation Glory, a body was presented to the Sanders family as Jim’s remains. They were told that Jim had died in battle at the Chosin Reservoir in December of 1950. The Sanders said goodbye to Jim and buried him. But there were questions.

The remains that came home had been identified on the basis of dental records and bone measurement. No identification media were present. There was a healed fracture of the left foot by the big toe. Jim had never broken his foot. He had been in Korea for less than three months before he was lost and, in letters home during that time, he never mentioned a broken foot, nor do his medical records mention a broken foot. Also, if Jim had died in battle at the Chosin Reservoir, why had he been reported as a POW? What had returning POWs said about Jim’s fate?

In October of 1955, Jim’s mother received a letter from a government office (she can no longer recall which one) saying that Jim might be a POW...even then. She took the letter to a local VA office in Arkansas, and never got it back from them.

James Sanders’ name appeared on the so-called ‘944 List’ and, later, on the reduced ‘450 List’. These were men, it was thought, for whom there should have been an accounting.

Jim’s name was on other lists, too, like the Group Baker List, which included men on the basis of 5 criteria:
1) mention by returning POWs;
2) mention in intercepted enemy transmissions;
3) mention in captured enemy documents;
4) mention in information
obtained by the Red Cross; or
5) letters home while in captivity.

In July of 1960, Jim’s mother received a letter from the Army telling her that Jim’s name had been deleted from the ‘list of American military personnel for whom the U.S. Government has been attempting to secure an accounting from the North Korean and Chinese Communists’, because James’ remains reportedly had been returned in 1955. In other words, his case had been closed.

But, in subsequent years, the Sanders obtained a close-up photograph from the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) of six POWs, one of whom bears a striking resemblance to Jim. Obviously, information that Jim was a POW at any time would be inconsistent with his having died in battle at the Chosin Reservoir. If, in fact, the remains that were returned to the Sanders were taken from the Chosin Reservoir battleground, as reported, they could not be those of James Sanders, unless the above-listed discrepancies can all be explained.

In view of the ever increasing body of evidence that American POWs were captured alive by the communists and held back after the Korean War, families are less inclined to accept partial or unsatisfactory explanations of their loved one’s fate. Last November, the Sanders asked the Army to review Jim’s case. After a review of the case, if a legitimate question exists as to whether the Sanders buried someone other than Jim in 1955, his family would like those remains disinterred and tested with current DNA capabilities for a more positive identification. If a positive identification cannot be made, they would like James’ name added back to the list of men for whom there has been no accounting. Further, they would like the remains in question returned to the family whose loved one is ultimately identified.

The Army is currently reviewing James Sanders’ case and will issue a report. Meanwhile, the Sanders family suffers the uncertainty that haunts so many other American families who search for answers.

Lloyd Saunders is a member of the Coalition of Families, and he has kindly provided us this information about his brother.

Coalition Headquarters
P.O. Box 7152
Roanoke, VA 24019-0152
info@coalitionoffamilies.org