The U.S. Army's Repatriation and Family Affairs Division—which recently traced his family to people with five surnames residing in four states—is working to change that. The objective of this organization is to locate and re-establish ties with the family members of the 6,318 soldiers who were never accounted for in the Korean War. To put this into perspective, this is about three times as many soldiers as those still unaccounted for from Vietnam. The ticking clock—50 years and counting—makes it both urgent and somewhat difficult to find these soldiers' families.

By locating family members, the Army hopes not only to help with the inevitable, unanswered questions, but also to build a database of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) samples. With relations with North Korea slowly improving (this, in spite of the fact that an official cessation of hostilities was never declared!) and search and recovery efforts escalating, the Army has more hope of bringing soldiers home now than they did in the first four decades following the war. During the 1990s, several hundred sets of remains were repatriated, but now the challenge is to identify them so they can be accorded a formal military funeral.

At this point, approximately 30 percent of the soldiers' families have been found and the mtDNA database contains samples for slightly more than 20 percent of the soldiers. As the database grows, so do the chances of matches confirming the identification of Baltimore Payne or any individual missing soldier.

The Army would like your help in finding the other 4,000+ families. Please don't think you can't help just because you weren't even born then. Almost everyone in the U.S. knows of someone who served in Korea, whether he returned or not. Maybe it was your grandfather or your brother. Maybe it was that acquaintance from high school. Maybe it was that fellow who worked at the mill with your father. Or maybe it was you.

If you have any connection—no matter how remote—to someone who served in Korea, please visit www.koreanwar.org

This site lists all the men who are still unaccounted for. You can search for a soldier's name and then leave a remembrance with whatever details you might have. No detail is too insignificant, but ones pertaining to the soldiers' families are especially helpful. Names of siblings (generally not contained in the soldiers' files) can often bring a case to resolution. A remarriage of the soldier's mother or the fact that his brood moved from New Jersey to Arizona can be enormously useful. Just think for yourself what information you would need to trace a line in your own extended clan forward from 1950. The same information is needed by the Army. Remember, too, that others who served frequently knew quite a lot about the Stateside lives of their fellow soldiers. Please consider quizzing any Korean War veterans you might know about the men they served with.

Should you note a "DNA" tag next to the soldier's name, this means his family is being actively sought. If you see this, you might want to consider calling the Army directly at 800-892-2490 in addition to leaving a remembrance.

Baltimore gave his life for his country. That it happened 50 years ago makes it no smaller a sacrifice or any less important. The Korean War was fought from 1950 to 1953, so we are in the midst of an extended 50th anniversary. What more fitting tribute than to see that as many of these soldiers as possible are properly honored and interred?

Megan Smolenyak is an international marketing consultant who has been researching her family history since she was in the sixth grade. Megan has appeared on Today with Jack Ford and is the lead researcher of the PBS Series Ancestors. She also wrote the companion book for that series, In Search of Our Ancestors: 101 Inspiring Stories of Serendipity and Connection in Rediscovering Our Family History. She has also published dozens of articles in genealogical publications and business magazines and delivers seminars and workshops on genealogical subjects. Megan can be reached by e-mail, at megan_smolenyak@compuserve.com.