Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
September 5, 2024

U.S. Army Pvt. Robert L. Skaar, 18

U.S. Army Pvt. Robert L. Skaar, 18, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In early 1945, Skaar was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 222nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division. On March 10, Skaar was killed in action while his unit was on patrol near Wildenguth, France. The Germans never reported Skaar as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not immediately recovered.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Wildenguth. None of the investigations uncovered any leads regarding the disposition of Skaar’s remains. Consequently, he was declared non-recoverable on March 12, 1951.

DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth. and found that X-5726 Neuville (X-5726), buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, could be associated with Skaar. X-5726 was disinterred in August 2022 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.

Skaar’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.

Skaar will be buried on October 1, 2024, in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
September 5, 2024

U.S. Army Private 1st Class Robert J. Wright Jr, 20

U.S. Army Private 1st Class Robert J. Wright Jr, 20, of Hollybrook, Virginia, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.

In late 1950, Wright was a member of G Company, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, after his unit attempted to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, two POWs who returned during Operation Big Switch reported Wright had been a prisoner of war and died in March 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #5.

In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #5, to the United Nations Command. None were associated with Wright.

One set of remains disinterred from Camp #5 returned during Operation Glory was designated Unknown X-14717 and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In August 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14717 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

Wright’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.

A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Wright will be buried in Hollybrook, Virginia, on a date to be determined.

Today, 7,453 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.

U.S. Army Air Forces Sergeant Henry H. Packard, 34, of Plymouth, New Hampshire, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.

In summer 1942, Packard was a member of the Chemical Warfare Service, U.S. Army, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.  Packard was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Packard died September 17, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 445.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them.

Four sets of remains from Common Grave 445 were identified, but the remaining two were declared unidentifiable, including those of Sgt. Packard.
 

The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Packard’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

Packard will be buried in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on a date to be determined.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
August 22, 2024

U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Arlie P. Barrett, 19

U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Arlie P. Barrett, 19, of Bluff City, Tennessee, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

In August 1950, Barrett was a member of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in combat actions with the North Korean People’s Army along the Naktong River west of Yongsan, South Korea, on Aug. 10, 1950. Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time. The exact circumstances of his death were unknown.

On Dec. 29, 1950, Unknown Remains X-334 Miryang (X-334) was recovered near the village of Chirhyon-ni, roughly eight miles from where Barrett was reported MIA. The remains could not be identified as Barrett at the time, and they were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, known as the Punchbowl.

In June 2021, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-334 and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

Barrett’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.

Barrett will be buried in Mountain Home, Tennessee, on Sept. 27, 2024.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
August 19, 2024

U.S. Army Pvt. Kwack K. Woo, 31

U.S. Army Pvt. Kwack K. Woo, 31, of Los Angeles, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In February 1945, Woo was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division. His regiment was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Biesdorf, Germany, when he was reported killed in action by small arms fire on Feb. 9. His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces on an elevated position. Despite various recovery attempts, Woo’s remains were not accounted for during or after the war.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. In 1951, remains were recovered from a wooded area southeast of Biesdorf. Remnants of military clothing, an American helmet and ammunition were found, but no identification tags or personal effects were located. The remains were designated X-8517 Neuville and interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Tunisia, known today as the North Africa American Cemetery.

In September 2022, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel exhumed X-8517 Neuville for forensic analysis and comparison with unresolved soldiers known to have been lost in the Biesdorf conflict area. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.

Woo’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Luxembourg American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Hamm, Luxembourg, along with the others still missing from World War II.

Woo will be buried in Agawam, Massachusetts, on Sept. 28, 2024.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
August 16, 2024

U.S. Army Sgt. Kester B. Hardman, 22

U.S. Army Sgt. Kester B. Hardman, 22, of Smithville, West Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

In Dec. 1950, Hardman was assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Sunchon, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Following the armistice in 1953, North Korean forces claimed Hardman died in the spring of 1951 while in captivity at POW Camp 5, on the Pyoktong Peninsula. His remains were not identified during or immediately after the war.

Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-13467 OP GLORY, was reportedly recovered from the 1st Marine Division Cemetery at Yudam-ni, D.P.R.K. While most losses interred at Yudam-ni were primarily Marines, several other sets of remains were identified as POWs who had died at Camp 5. Investigators could not identify X-13467 at the time, and they were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In July 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown Remains X-13467 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.

Hardman’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.

Hardman will be buried in Smithville, West Virginia, on a date to be determined.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
August 15, 2024

U.S. Army Corporal Waymon Slaten, 19

U.S. Army Corporal Waymon Slaten, 19, from Arab, Alabama killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In September 1950, Slaten was a member of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action after his unit engaged in combat actions with the enemy on Hill 209, west of Yongsan, South Korea, on Sept. 1, 1950.

Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time.

The exact circumstances of his death were unknown, and the U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death in December 1953.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
August 15, 2024

U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Clossie D. Brown, 36

U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Clossie D. Brown, 36, of Frankfort, Indiana, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

Brown was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II. Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND. The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company F found itself assigned to a 7-mile sector at Reipertswiller and Wildenguth, France. At some point on Jan 21, Brown was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered. With no record of German forces capturing Brown, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Finding of Death” in January 1946.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began looking for missing American personnel in the Reipertswiller area. On June 15, 1947, a French demining unit in the Obermuhlthal forest, northeast of Reiperstwiller, discovered fragmentary human remains and Pfc. Brown’s identification tag. The recovered remains, designated X-5723 Neuville (X-5723), were analyzed, but at the time scientists were unable to make a positive identification. They were interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery at St. Avold, France, known today as Lorraine American Cemetery.

DPAA historians have been conducting in-depth research into Soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth and Reipertswiller, and believe that the fragmentary remains comprising Unknown X-5723 could be associated with Brown. They also determined that additional remains, designated X-8046 St. Avold, could also represent portions of Brown. In June 2021 and Aug. 2022, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission workers exhumed X-5723 and X-8046, and transferred the remains to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.

Brown’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.

Brown will be buried in Frankfort, Indiana, on Sept. 24, 2024.

Airman Accounted For from  World War II
August 15, 2024

U.S. Army Air Forces Private Robert W. Cash, 20

U.S. Army Air Forces Private Robert W. Cash, 20, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.

In summer 1942, Cash was a member of the 28th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.  Cash was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Cash died July 16, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 316.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Eleven of the sets of remains from Common Grave 316 were identified, while the remaining 17 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 316 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Cash’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Today, Pvt. Cash is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. 

A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Cash will be buried in Pittsford, New York, on a date to be determined

Pilot Accounted For from  World War II
August 12, 2024

U.S. Navy Reserve Lieutenant Jay R. Manown Jr., 26

U.S. Navy Reserve Lieutenant Jay R. Manown Jr., 26, of Kingwood, West Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In the fall of 1944, Manown was an aviator assigned to Navy Torpedo Squadron 20 (VT-20), USS Enterprise. On Sept. 10, Manown and two other crew members aboard a TBM-1C Avenger (Bureau Number 17018), took off from the USS Enterprise on a mission to conduct air strikes against enemy targets in Malakal Naval District, Palau Islands. Witnesses from other aircraft in the formation saw Manown’s plane struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crash into water near Malakal. There were no indications that Manown or the other crewmembers exited the stricken aircraft prior to the crash, and all efforts to recover their remains were unsuccessful.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service, the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in Palau, concluding their search in the summer of 1947. Investigators could not find any evidence of Manown or his aircraft. He was declared non-recoverable July 16, 1949.

From 2003 to 2018, the BentProp Project (now known as Project Recover), with members from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of Delaware, and DPAA conducted multiple investigations resulting in the location of a site associated with the incident. Later, in May 2019, Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research (SHIPS), another DPAA partner organization, excavated the site and recovered possible osseous remains and other material evidence. In Sept. 2021, a subsequent excavation was completed by Project Recover and Legion Undersea Services (Legion), where additional remains and material evidence were recovered. Finally, in July 2023 Project Recover and Legion completed a third excavation at the site, collecting further osseous materials and material evidence. This evidence was all sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

In 2023 the DPAA laboratory scientifically identified the other two crewmen from Manown’s crash site, further supporting the belief that Manown’s remains were also recovered.

Manown’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines, along with others still missing from WWII.

Manown will be buried on October 29, 2024, in Kingwood, West Virginia.

Airman Accounted For from  World War II
August 12, 2024

U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Francis E. Callahan, 22

U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Francis E. Callahan, 22, of Staten Island, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In spring 1944, Callahan was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On April 8, Callahan, the navigator onboard a B-24H “Liberator” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel. The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all ten crewmembers, including Callahan, were unaccounted for following the war.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the Salzwedel and Wistedt areas of Germany. German forces had maintained accurate documentation (Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen, or KU) of American aircraft shoot-downs, with several reports indicating B-24s crashing in the area. However, AGRC was unable to associate any KU reports with Little Joe and investigators were unable to locate any crash or burial sites associated with the loss.

In 2015, an independent research group, Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team (MAACRT), contacted DPAA historians with new information related to a possible crash site near Wistedt, Germany. Interviews with elderly local residents indicated there were two crash sites, but only one was recovered by American forces following the war. Investigators located the second crash site and were able to recover various pieces of wreckage. Possible osseous remains were also located and transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. At the time, no matches could be made with any Unknowns and further investigations were scheduled.

Callahan’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII.

Callahan will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.

Airman Accounted For from  World War II
August 9, 2024

U.S. Army Air Forces Private 1st Class Harry M. Seiff, 23

U.S. Army Air Forces Private 1st Class Harry M. Seiff, 23, of Venice, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.

In summer 1942, Seiff was a member of the 20th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Forces, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.  Seiff was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Seiff died November 14, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 723.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Several sets of remains from Common Grave 723 were identified, but the remaining others were declared unidentifiable, including those of Pfc. Seiff. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In June 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 723 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Seiff’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

Seiff will be buried on a date and location to be determined.

Airman Accounted For from  World War II
August 9, 2024

U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Alvin R. Scarborough, 22

U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Alvin R. Scarborough, 22, of Dossville, Mississippi, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.

In late 1942, Scarborough was a member of 454th Ordnance Company (Aviation), when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. 

Scarborough was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Scarborough died July 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 215.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Five sets of remains from Common Grave 215 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 215 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Scarborough’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

Scarborough will be buried in Carthage, Mississippi, on a date to be determined.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
August 2, 2024

U.S. Army Master Sgt. David P. Sluder, 33

U.S. Army Master Sgt. David P. Sluder, 33, of Johnson City, Tennessee, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

In July 1950, Sluder was a member of Battery B, 63rd Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division during the Korean War. He went missing in action after his unit was attacked by enemy ground forces in the vicinity of Samgyo-ri along the Kum River, South Korea, on July 14. Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.

After regaining control of Taejon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Taejon. One set of remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-1422. A tentative association was made between X-1422 and Sluder, but definitive proof could not be found, and X-1422 was determined to be unidentifiable. The remains were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In Oct 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-1422 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.

Sluder’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.

Sluder will be buried in Mountain Home, Tennessee, on Sept. 29, 2024.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
August 1, 2024

U.S. Army Technician Fifth Grade (Tech5) Harold D. Pittis, 21

Airman Accounted For from  World War II
July 30, 2024

U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Ralph L. Mourer, 23

U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Ralph L. Mourer, 23,  from Denver, Colorado was killed during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In spring 1944, Mourer was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On April 8, Mourer, the radio operator onboard a B-24H “Liberator” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany.

Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel.

The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all nine crewmembers, including Mourer, were unaccounted for following the war.

Ralph L Mourer is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.

Pilot Accounted For from  World War II
July 30, 2024

U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Joe A. De Jarnette, 25

U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Joe A. De Jarnette, 25, from Fort Thomas, Campbell County, Kentucky was killed during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In spring 1944, De Jarnette was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On April 8, De Jarnette, the pilot onboard a B-24H “Liberator” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany.

Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel.

The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all nine crewmembers, including De Jarnette, were unaccounted for following the war

Joe Allen De Jarnette is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.

Airman Accounted For from  World War II
July 30, 2024

U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Hubert Yeary, 17

U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Hubert Yeary, 17, from Charles City, Virginia. He had completed 2 years at the Varina High School in Richmond. He was  killed during World War II, was accounted for.

Hubert Yeary is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.

Pilot Accounted For from  World War II
July 30, 2024

 U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Robert D. McKee, 27

 U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Robert D. McKee, 27, from Portland, Oregon killed during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In spring 1944, McKee was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater.

On April 8, McKee, the co-pilot onboard a B-24H “Liberator” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel.

The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all nine crewmembers, including McKee, were unaccounted for following the war.

Robert D McKee is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
July 26, 2024

U.S. Army Sgt. John P. Ryhter, 22

U.S. Army Sgt. John P. Ryhter, 22, of Bedford, Ohio, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

In Dec. 1950, Ryhter was a member of Battery A, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army in the vicinity of Kunu-ri, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, during the Battle of Ch’ongch’on River. At the time the circumstances for Ryhter’s loss were not immediately known, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war.

The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.

Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-14632 OP GLORY, was reportedly recovered from Camp 5 Prisoner of War Cemetery, Pyoktong, North Korea. Definitive proof could not be found between X-14632 and Ryhter, and the remains were determined to be unidentifiable. They were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, known as the Punchbowl.

In Sept. 2019, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown X-14632 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.

Ryhter’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.

Ryhter will be buried in Bedford, Ohio, on a date to be determined.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
July 25, 2024

U.S. Army Technician Fifth Grade (Tech5) Harold D. Pittis, 22

U.S. Army Technician Fifth Grade (Tech5) Harold D. Pittis, 22, from Freeport Township, Harrison, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)
In February 1945, Pittis was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division.

His regiment was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Biesdorf, Germany, when he was reported killed in action by small arms fire on Feb. 8. His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces on an elevated position.

 U.S. Army Harold D. Pittis was buried in Hamm, Luxembourg, in Luxembourg American Cemetery is located near the town of Hamm, three miles east of Luxembourg City center.

Airman Accounted For from  World War II
July 25, 2024

U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Jack H. Hohlfeld, 29

U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Jack H. Hohlfeld, 29, of Trempealeau, Wisconsin, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.

Hohlfeld was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.  Hohlfeld was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death Hohlfeld and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Hohlfeld died Dec. 26, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 811.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three of the sets of remains from Common Grave 811 were identified, while the remaining 3 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 811 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Hohlfeld’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Today, Hohlfeld is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. 

A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Hohlfeld will be buried in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on a date to be determined.  

Airman Accounted For from  World War II
July 25, 2024

U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Ralph H. Bode, 20

U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Ralph H. Bode, 20, of Racine, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In late 1944, SSgt. Bode was assigned to the 700th Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Sep 27, Bode, the tail gunner onboard a B-24H “Liberator”, was lost when his aircraft was shot down while on a bombing mission over Kassel, Germany. During the mission, the formation of Allied aircraft encountered heavy resistance from ground and air forces, which resulted in the rapid loss of 25 Liberators. Several surviving crewmembers from Bode’s aircraft reported seeing other crewmembers near escape hatches, but they did not see Bode escape the aircraft. After the crash, German forces captured 3 crewmembers as prisoners of war, but Bode was not among them. After a year without a sign of Bode, the War Department issued a finding of death on September 28, 1945.

In Sept 1951, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, received information from local residents of Richelsdorf, Germany, about several bombers that had crashed in the woods just outside town. Investigators were able to locate remains of crashed aircraft and various bits of scattered clothing, and the osseus remains belonging to multiple service members.

These remains, labeled X-9070 Liege and X-9071 Liege, were believed to be those belonging to members of Bode’s downed aircraft. At the time, identification of these remains was not possible, and they were interred in the Luxembourg America Cemetery, Luxembourg, and the North African American Cemetery, Tunisia, respectively.

The separate burials were done due to a lack of space in a single location.

Bode’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Luxembourg American Cemetery, Hamm, Luxembourg, along with others still missing from WWII.

Bode will be buried on September 27, 2024, in Racine, Wisconsin.

Pilot Accounted For from  World War II
July 25, 2024

U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Alfred J. Hamwey, 24

U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Alfred J. Hamwey, 24, of Jacksonville, Florida, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In January 1945, Hamwey was assigned to 360th Service Group, Combat Replacement Training Center, Far East Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat near Wewak, Territory of New Guinea, Hamwey’s unit attacked enemy defensive positions on nearby Cape Wom. Hamwey was reported as missing in action on Jan. 20, when friendly forces lost contact with the A-20G Havoc bomber he was piloting.
 

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. In June 1949, a board of AGRS officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains of Hamwey and the other two crew members. They were designated as non-recoverable.
 

DPAA predecessor organizations began researching and recovering service members from Papua New Guinea in the early 1980s. In December 2011, an Australian Defence Force officer reported seeing an aircraft crash site in a swap near Cape Wom, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. A local guide from the nearby Wom Village had discovered the site roughly six months prior and stated human remains had been seen in the crash.  Between July 2015 and May 2016, DPAA personnel interviewed locals, collected crash materials and various life support items, and collected possible osseous remains.  In late 2022, a DPAA Underwater Recovery Team conducted operations at the site, and recovered possible human remains, material evidence, and other life support equipment. The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis.

Hamwey’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII.

Hamwey will be buried on September 12, 2024, in Jacksonville, Florida.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
July 19, 2024

Army First Lieutenant Herman J. Sundstad,

Army First Lieutenant Herman J. Sundstad, form Minnesota killed during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In the summer of 1944, Sundstad was a member of the 5307^th Composite Unit (Provisional), also known as Merrill’s Marauders. On June 5, Sundstad’s unit, referred to as “Task Force Galahad”, was engaged with Japanese forces in the Battle of Myitkyina, in Burma. Historical records of Sundstad’s assigned unit were lost, but he was believed to be a member of 3rd Battalion.

 At the time of his loss, 3rd Battalion was engaging an overwhelming enemy force near the village of Namkwi. The exact circumstances of his death were not recorded, and his remains were not accounted for during or after the war.

Herman J Sundstad is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.

Pilot Accounted For from  World War II
July 19, 2024

U.S. Navy Reserve Lieutenant Jay R. Manown

U.S. Navy Reserve Lieutenant Jay R. Manown, from West Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

On Sept. 10, Manown and two other crew members aboard a TBM-1C Avenger (Bureau Number 17018), took off from the USS Enterprise on a mission to conduct air strikes against enemy targets in Malakal Naval District, Palau Islands.

Witnesses from other aircraft in the formation saw Manown’s plane struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crash into water near Malakal. There were no indications that Manown or the other crewmembers exited the stricken aircraft prior to the crash, and all efforts to recover their remains were unsuccessful.

Lieutenant Jay R. Manown name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines

USS West Virginia Sailor  Accounted For from  World War II
July 18, 2024

Navy Fireman 3rd Class (F3c) Royle B. Luker,

Navy Fireman 3rd Class (F3c) Royle B. Luker, from Arkansas killed during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

Fireman Third Class Luker entered the U.S. Navy from Arkansas and served aboard the USS West Virginia (BB-48). The West Virginia was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when the area was attacked by Japanese Imperial Forces on December 7, 1941. The West Virginia suffered multiple torpedo hits and sank to the shallow harbor floor. F3 Luker did not survive the incident. During efforts to salvage the West Virginia following its loss, U.S. Navy personnel collected a large number of remains. Some remains were identified, but many were not, including those of F3 Luker, so they were interred as unknowns at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, Hawaii. In 2017, DPAA exhumed 35 caskets containing remains associated with the West Virginia.

The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Luker. 

Fireman Third Class Luker is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

USS West Virginia Sailor Accounted For from  World War II
July 18, 2024

Navy Fireman 1st Class (F1c) Fred H. Boyer, 

Navy Fireman 1st Class (F1c) Fred H. Boyer, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

On Dec. 7, 1941, Boyer was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.

The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor.

The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Boyer. 

Fireman Third Class Boyer is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Tanker Accounted For from  World War II
July 18, 2024

U.S. Army Corporal Robert A. Bartlett, 22

U.S. Army Corporal Robert A. Bartlett, 22, of Pierre, South Dakota, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In July 1944, Bartlett was assigned to Company A, 744th Tank Battalion, as a crew member of an M5A1 Stuart light tank. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces at Saint-Germain-d’Elle, France, on July 26 when his tank was struck by an enemy shoulder-fired rocket. Two crewmembers were able to escape the vehicle, but Bartlett and another Soldier were never seen or heard from again.

Due to strong enemy artillery fire and intense combat, surviving crewmembers were unable to examine the tank afterwards. Bartlett was declared missing in action, but the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. In September 1950, with no evidence Bartlett survived the fighting, the Army Quartermaster Corps determined his remains were non-recoverable.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. On July 30, 1944, AGRC personnel recovered two sets of remains from an M5A1 destroyed in the vicinity of Saint-Germain-d’Elle. Ultimately, they could not identify the remains, designated X-141 and X-142 St. Laurent, and they were interred in the Normandy American Cemetery, France.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Saint-Germain-d’Elle area, a DPAA historian determined that the M5A1 Stuart tank recovered from the area belonged to Company A, where Bartlett was assigned. This correlation led DPAA and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel to exhume the remains of X-141 and X-142 in April 2018, and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.

Bartlett’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with the others still missing from World War II.

A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Bartlett will be buried in Blount, South Dakota, on August 10, 2024.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
July 12, 2024

Army Pvt. 1st Class Luther E. Bagley, 22

Army Pvt. 1st Class Luther E. Bagley, 22, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.

In the spring and summer of 1944, Pfc. Bagley was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, reinforcing the 5307^th Composite Unit (Provisional), also known as Merrill’s Marauders. On July 25, Bagley’s battalion was engaged with Japanese forces in the Battle of Myitkyina, in Burma.

It was reported he was killed in action while attempting to secure an airstrip near the village of Radhapur. His remains were not accounted for during or after the war.

In 1947, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel recovered a set of unknown remains, designated X-524 Barrackpore, in the vicinity of Myitkyina. The remains were initially examined at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, but investigators were unable to scientifically identify them. X-524 was interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In 2021, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-524 from the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis.

Bagley’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City, Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII.

Bagley will be buried in Fitzgerald, Georgia, on August 10, 2024.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
July 11, 2024

Army Corporal Edward J. Smith, 18

Army Corporal Edward J. Smith, 18, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

In August 1950, Smith was a member of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Aug. 31 while fighting North Korean forces in the vicinity of Changnyong, South Korea.

He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that could be identified as Smith.

On October 6, 1950, a sets of remains was recovered from an isolated grave in a rice paddy near the village of Ibang-ni, roughly 8 miles west of Changnyong. Investigators could not make a scientific identification, and the remains, designated Unknown X-321 Miryang, were later transported to the United Nations Military Cemetery for temporary interment. In Feb. 1951, X-321, along with other unidentified Korean War remains, were transferred to National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In June 2021, DPAA exhumed X-321 for scientific analysis and identification, and transferred the remains to the DPAA Laboratory.

Smith’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monument Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.

 A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Smith will be buried in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on August 23, 2024.

Pilot Accounted For from  World War II
July 11, 2024

U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan W. Knepper, 27

U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan W. Knepper, 27, of Lewiston, Idaho, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In summer 1943, Knepper was a pilot with the 49th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of World War II. On July 10, Knepper departed El Bathan Airfield, Tunisia, in his P-38 “Lightning” as one of many fighter waves assigned to attack enemy forces near Caltagirone, Italy, and neutralize Axis air powers. In attempts to obstruct Axis movements from the island’s interior toward the beach where Allied forces were landing, U.S. air forces were dispatched every 30 minutes throughout the day. Knepper’s squadron encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire, and another pilot witnessed Knepper’s aircraft veer suddenly skyward before rolling halfway over and plummeting to the ground.

 There was no witness of any deployed parachute following the crash, and it was believed he was still in the plane when it crashed. Knepper’s remains were not recovered, and he was subsequently declared missing in action.

DPAA researchers located a German report at the U.S. National Archives, dated 10 July 1943, which reports two American “Lightning” aircraft were shot down and crashed west and southwest of Caltagirone. Between 2015 and 2023, the Department of Defense and its partners researched, investigated, and excavated a crash site near Caltagirone, recovering material evidence and remains that are believed to be associated with 2nd. Lt. Knepper. These remains were then sent to the DPAA laboratory for examination and identification.

2nd Lt. Knepper’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.

2nd Lt. Knepper will be buried in Lewiston, Idaho, on Aug. 2, 2024.

U.S. Army Corporal Jesse L. Mitchell, 22, of Shawnee, Oklahoma, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

In Dec. 1950, Mitchell was a member of C Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Kunu-ri, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, during the Battle of Ch’ongch’on River.

 Eyewitness accounts recall Mitchell being captured by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces while attempting to withdraw to friendly positions.

He reportedly died from exhaustion and malnutrition while in captivity at POW Camp 5, on the Pyoktong Peninsula, in summer 1951.

Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-13443 OP GLORY, was reportedly recovered from the 1st Marine Division Cemetery at Yudam-ni, D.P.R.K. While most losses interred at Yudam-ni were primarily Marines, several other sets of remains were identified as POWs who had died at Camp 5. Investigators could not identify X-13443 at the time, and they were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In July 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown Remains X-13443 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.

Cpl. Mitchell’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.

Cpl. Mitchell will be buried in Shawnee, Oklahoma, on October 12, 2024.

U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Alcario V. Flores, 37, of Coolidge, Arizona, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In January 1945, Flores was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II. Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND.

The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company G found itself assigned to a sector at Reipertswiller, known as “Hoch Ebersberg” (Mount Ebersberg).

At some point on Jan 21, Pfc. Flores was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered. With no record of German forces capturing Flores, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Report of Death” in Jan 1946.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began looking for missing American personnel in the Reipertswiller and Wildenguth areas of France. At the time, they were able to recover numerous sets of remains, but none found belonged to Flores. Because the remains could not be identified, they were interred in 1949 at the U.S. Military Cemetery at St. Avold, France, known today as Lorraine American Cemetery.

DPAA historians have been conducting in-depth research into Soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth and Reipertswiller, and in 2021 an anonymous metal detectorist discovered human remains while illegally collecting relics from a foxhole on Hoch Ebersberg. The detectorist also discovered material evidence linking the remains to U.S. Army troops, to include clothing and 30-calibre casings. In December 2021, a DPAA Detachment Europe team recovered the remains and items from the southern slope of Hoch Ebersberg and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.

Pfc. Flores’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.

Pfc. Flores will be buried in Tempe, Arizona, on August 3, 2024.

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur B. Ervin, 22, of Detroit, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In July 1944, Ervin was a member of Company A, 1^st Battalion, 24^th Marine Regiment, 4^th Marine Division, which was part of the invasion force of the island of Saipan in a larger effort to capture the Mariana Islands from Japan. On July 5, Ervin was shot and killed by a sniper while trying to assist a wounded comrade. Due to the chaos surrounding the battle and its aftermath, his body was unable to be recovered.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater. They searched for and disinterred remains on Saipan, but could not identify any as Ervin. He was declared non-recoverable in September 1949.

Remains designated as Unknown X-64 4^th Infantry Division Cemetery were recovered from Saipan and interred in the Fort William McKinley Cemetery, now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines.

After thorough historical research, it was determined that X-64 could likely be identified. On Dec. 6, 2018, Unknown X-64 was disinterred and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

Ervin’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from World War II.

Ervin was buried October 16, 2023, in the Punchbowl.

U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Stanley J. Samoski, 22, of Manchester, New Hampshire, killed during World War II was accounted for.

In the summer of 1943, Samoski served with the 334th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Samoski was serving as a bombardier, crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiești, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiești, Prahova, Romania. 

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.

In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for examination and identification.

2nd Lt. Samoski’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the North Africa American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Carthage, Tunisia, along with others still missing from WWII.

2nd Lt. Samoski will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
July 2, 2024

Army Pvt. 1st Class Joseph R. Travers, 24

Army Pvt. 1st Class Joseph R. Travers, 24, from Massachusetts, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.

In early 1951, Travers was a member of Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Apr. 22, 1951, after his unit had engaged enemy forces near the village of Undam-Jang, Republic of Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, several POWs who returned during Operation Big Switch reported

Pfc Travers had been a prisoner of war and died in December 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp 1 in Changsong, North Korea, on the bank of the Yalu River. However, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war.

Private First Class Travers is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
July 2, 2024

Army Master Sgt. Wallace Simmons Jr. 36

Army Master Sgt. Wallace Simmons Jr., 36, from Indianapolis, Indiana killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In late 1950, Simmons was a member of Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Dec. 6, 1950, after his unit was engaged with enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.

Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. The exact circumstances of his loss are not historically available, and there was never a record he was held captive as a POW.

Wallace Simmons Jr is inscribed on the  memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial

Airman Accounted For from  World War II
June 26, 2024

U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta, 21

U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta, 21, of Los Angeles, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

In early 1944, Banta was assigned to the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Feb 24, Banta, an engineer onboard a B-24J “Liberator”, was killed in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. One of the surviving crewmembers reported seeing the plane on fire and in a steep dive, before eventually exploding on the ground.

While two crewmembers survived, the others, including Banta, were killed in the incident. German forces garrisoned in the area documented the crash site north of Leimbach Bahnhof, near Bad Salzungen, Germany. After the crash, German troops recovered the remains of the ball turret gunner and buried them in a local cemetery. The other six crewmembers, including Banta, were unaccounted for following the war.

In March 1952, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, took custody of comingled unidentified remains recovered from Bad Salzungen Cemetery. These remains, X-9093 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9093), X-9094 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9094), and X-9095 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9095), were believed to be those belonging to Banta’s downed aircraft. At the time, identification of these remains was not possible, and they were interred in the Ardennes American Cemetery, Belgium.

In June 2021, DPAA historians and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel, exhumed X-9093, X-9094, and X-9095 from Ardennes American Cemetery and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.

TSgt. Banta’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Hombourg, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII.

TSgt. Banta will be buried in Riverside National Cemetery, California, on a date to be determined.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
June 26, 2024

U.S. Army Sgt. Jack Zarifian, 19

U.S. Army Sgt. Jack Zarifian, 19, from Fairfield County, Connecticut killed during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In April 1945, Zarifian was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division.

His unit was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Buchhof, Germany, when he was reported killed in action after being struck by a Nebelwerfer rocket on Apr. 6.

His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against German forces hiding in the town.

Sgt. Zarifian’s remains were not accounted for during or after the war, and he was not reported as being captured by German forces.

Jack Zarifian is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France. 

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
June 26, 2024

 U.S. Army Pvt. Jeremiah P. Mahoney, 20

 U.S. Army Pvt. Jeremiah P. Mahoney, 20, from Chicago, Illinois killed during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In January 1945, Mahoney was assigned to Anti-Tank Company, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II.

Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND.

The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Anti-Tank Company found itself assigned to resupply and reinforce Allied forces during the Battle of Reipertswiller.

At some point on Jan. 17, Pvt. Mahoney was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered while Anti-Tank Company was forced to withdraw from the area.

 With no record of German forces capturing Mahoney, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Finding of Death” in January 1946.

Jeremiah P Mahoney is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing, Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial, Departement des Vosges, Lorraine, France

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
June 26, 2024

U.S. Army Private Joseph M. Cocco,

U.S. Army Private Joseph M. Cocco, from Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania missing in action during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In September 1943, Cocco was assigned to the Company C, 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion in the Mediterranean Theater in World War II. On Sept. 11, Cocco was reported killed in action in the vicinity of the Chiunzi Pass, north of Maiori, Italy, during Operation Avalanche.

His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a finding of death on Sept. 27, 1949

Joseph M Cocco is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
June 25, 2024

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Raymond E. Hall, 40

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Raymond E. Hall, 40, from Tennessee was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

In October 1950, Hall was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.

He was originally reported killed in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Sunchon, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
 

Hall had actually been captured by enemy forces and was being transported north with other POWs, when guards suddenly executed him and 65 other U.S. POWs in what would be called the “Suncheon Tunnel Massacre.”
 

The remains of the men were found by U.S. forces the following day and were transported to the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Pyongyang for temporary interment. Sgt. 1^st Class Hall was initially identified by FBI fingerprint comparison while at UNMC, but Pyongyang had to be evacuated to due to enemy activity and his remains were not recovered.

 Raymond E. Hall is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
June 25, 2024

Army Pvt. 1st Class Clossie D. Brown, 27

Army Pvt. 1st Class Clossie D. Brown, 27, from Kirklin, Clinton County, Indiana killed during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In January 1945, Brown was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II.

Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND.

On January 21, he was on the front line of an attack on an enemy position near Reipertswiller, France. PFC Brown was pinned down by heavy sniper and machine gun fire that caused his unit to pull back. When the company regrouped, PFC Brown was reported as missing, but the exact circumstances of his loss are unknown.

The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company F found itself assigned to a 7-mile sector at Reipertswiller and Wildenguth, France.

At some point on Jan 21, Pfc. Brown was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered. With no record of German forces capturing Brown, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Report of Death” in January 1946.

Clossie Denver Brown is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France.

Soldier Accounted For from  World War II
June 24, 2024

U.S. Army Pfc. Joseph C. Murphy, 20

U.S. Army Pfc. Joseph C. Murphy, 20, of Bogalusa, Louisiana, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.

In late 1942, Murphy was a member of Company I, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.  Murphy was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Murphy died Oct. 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 713.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Two of the sets of remains from Common Grave 713 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 713 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Murphy’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
 

Today, Pfc. Murphy is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. 
 

Pfc. Murphy will be buried in Bogalusa, Louisiana, on Aug. 3, 2024.

USS Oklahoma Soldier For from  World War II
June 21, 2024

U.S. Navy Fireman Second Class (F2c) Joseph W. Carroll, 20,

U.S. Navy Fireman Second Class (F2c) Joseph W. Carroll, 20, of Caddo, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Carroll was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Carroll.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries on Oahu.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the dentifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time.

The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including F2c Carroll.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.

F2c Carroll’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.

U.S. Army Private Jacob Gutterman, 24, from New York who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

He was captured following the American surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, and forced on the Bataan Death March. He was ultimately interned in the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of malaria on July 16, 1942.
At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery.
By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan.

In summer 1942, Gutterman was a member of the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. 

Gutterman was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.

They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death Gutterman and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

Pvt Gutterman was buried in a common grave at the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery along with other deceased American POWs.

Private Gutterman is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Soldier Accounted For from  Korean War
June 17, 2024

U.S. Army Sgt. John P. Ryhter, 22

U.S. Army Sgt. John P. Ryhter, 22, from Fresno County, California killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.

(Official release will be updated following the primary next of kin briefing.)

In Dec. 1950, Ryhter was a member of Battery A, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Kunu-ri, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, during the Battle of Ch’ongch’on River.

The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Sgt Ryhter went missing in action on December 1, 1950, as his unit provided direct fire support to 2nd Infantry Division troops withdrawing from Kunu-ri south to Sunchon, North Korea.

 At the time the circumstances for his loss were not immediately recorded, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war.

The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Jan. 16, 1956.

John P Ryhter is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.</