“HONOR THE DEAD BY HELPING THE LIVING”
March 03, 2017
KHAMMOUANE, Laos --
With
1,614 service members missing in action from the Vietnam War, the Defense
POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) deploys hundreds of service members,
DoD civilians, and contractors all over the world in hopes of returning our
nation’s fallen heroes.
Recently a team of 59 personnel completed DPAA’s second Laos mission of fiscal
year 2017, covering the Central East region of Laos. From rice patties to
mountainsides,
the teams excavated thousands of square meters of land recovering important
evidence relating to missing servicemen lost during the war.
“I’m
very honored to have been part of this initiative to bring our missing home,”
said U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Walgenbach,
recovery non-commissioned officer. “This mission has been the most unique part
of my 13 year career in the military and I know others feel the same way.”
Every
team member plays an important role in mission success. Whether that is the
recovery non-commissioned officer setting up the sites,
or the recovery leader collecting scientific data, working together ensures
nothing is overlooked and the safety of the team remains number one priority.
Due
to the efforts of the teams, Laos representatives handed over possible remains
to the U.S. to be repatriated and welcomed back on American soil after 48 years.
Upon arrival the possible remains will be transported to DPAA’s laboratory for
examination and possible identification.
“During this mission I have worked along side some of the greatest men and women
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting,
and being chosen for the repatriation ceremony was a perfect way to end such a
great mission,” said U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Brod,
recovery non-commissioned officer. “It is truly an honor to be bringing closure
to the families of our fallen service members.”
The
hard work and continued dedication of these teams makes it possible for DPAA to
fulfill our nations promise and
provide fullest possible accounting for our missing service members to their
families and the nation.
U.S. Navy
Petty Officer 1st Class Ameil Fredeluces, edic, and U.S. Marine Corps. Staff
Sgt. Eddie Ludwig, explosive ordinance disposal technician,
remove dirt from units during excavation operations as part of the Defense
POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos,
January 29, 2017. Recovery Team Three executed excavation operations in
search of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while on a visual
reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over 48 years ago. DPAA’s mission
is to provide the fullest possible accounting
for our missing personnel to their families and the nation.
Members of
the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency dig units during excavation operations as
part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s
mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos, January 26, 2017. Recovery Team Three
executed excavation operations in search of two missing
U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while on a visual reconnaissance mission
during the Vietnam War over 48 years ago. DPAA’s mission is to provide the
fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the
nation.
Jack Kenkeo,
life support investigator, shovels dirt from the screening stations during
excavation operations as part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s
mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos, January 23, 2017. Recovery Team Three
executed excavation operations in search of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots
who crashed while on a visual reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over
48 years ago.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing
personnel to their families and the nation.
U.S. Army
Staff Sgt. Francis Sangiamvongse, linguist, screens soil with local villagers
during excavation operations as part of the Defense POW/MIA
Accounting Agency’s mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos, January 29, 2017.
Recovery Team Three executed excavation operations in search
of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while on a visual
reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over 48 years ago.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing
personnel to their families and the nation.
Lynn Rakos,
scientific recovery expert, waters hard soil to help with excavation operations
as part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s mission
in the Khammovan Province, Laos, January 23, 2017. Recovery Team three executed
excavation operations in search of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots
who crashed while on a visual reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over
48 years ago.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing
personnel to their families and the nation.
In March of
2017, Making the effort to thank the troops for what they do out in the field
means everything.
With a DPAA recovery team in Quang Nam Province, two hours west of Da Nang,
Vietnam.
The UW-Madison
story involved
a group of six students and staff members who were part of a team that unearthed
a World War II U.S. fighter aircraft—
and possibly remains of its pilot—in the ground under a farm field in France
this summer.
The team used ground-penetrating radar and a photo taken by a
British reconnaissance plane two days after the May, 1944
crash of the P-47 Thunderbolt flown by 1st Lt. Frank Fazekas.
Search underway for Lakewood, Ohio airman of World War II
Search underway for Lakewood, Ohio airman of World War II.
Divers of the U.S. Defense
POW/MIA
Accounting Agency and Civil Defense of Grado, Italy,
prepare for an exploratory dive on the sunken B-24 bomber.
This B-24 Liberator is the same type of airplane that
Lakewood, Ohio airman Thomas McGraw was flying in when it was shot down and
crashed off the coast of Italy during World War II.
A Missing Air Crew Report details the last flight of the B-24 and nose gunner
Thomas McGraw of Lakewood, Ohio.
B-24 located in Adriatic; Crewmanis bones sought Ught Lakewood Manis remains
crewman Omber crew,am2-2k-28 bold Header from A1.
A skull fragment was recovered at the site of a wrecked B-24 bomber
off the coast of Italy that may contain the remains of
Thomas McGraw,
of Lakewood, Ohio.
An underwater view of the crash site of a B-24 off Grado, Italy.
USS Arizona was
a Pennsylvania-class battleship built
for and by the United
States Navy in
the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th
state's
recent admission into the union, the ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class
of "super-dreadnought"
battleships. Although commissioned in
1916, the ship remained stateside during World
War I.
Shortly after the end of the war, Arizona was
one of a number of American ships that briefly escorted President Woodrow
Wilson to
the Paris
Peace Conference.
The ship was sent to Turkey in 1919 at the beginning of the Greco-Turkish
War to
represent American interests for several months. Several years later, she was
transferred to the Pacific
Fleet and
remained there for the rest of her career.
Aside from a comprehensive modernization in 1929–31, Arizona was
regularly used for training exercises between the wars, including the annual Fleet
Problems
(training exercises). When an earthquake struck
Long Beach, California,
in 1933, Arizona's
crew provided aid to the survivors. Two years later, the ship was featured in a Jimmy
Cagney film, Here
Comes the Navy,
about the romantic troubles of a sailor. In April 1940, she and the rest of the
Pacific Fleet were transferred from California to Pearl
Harbor,
Hawaii, as a deterrent to Japanese
imperialism.
During the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor on
7 December 1941, Arizona was
bombed. After a bomb detonated in a powder magazine, the battleship exploded
violently and sank, killing 1,177 officers and crewmen. Unlike many of the other
ships sunk or damaged that day, Arizona was
irreparably damaged by the force of the magazine explosion, though the Navy
removed parts of the ship for reuse. The wreck still
lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial,
dedicated on 30 May 1962 to all those who died during the attack, straddles the
ship's hull.
The USS Oklahoma was on Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. That was the morning that the Japanese Empire attacked the United States by surprise.
The Japanese
used dive–bombers, fighter–bombers, and torpedo planes to sink nine ships,
including five battleships, and severely damage 21 ships.
There were 2,402 US deaths from the attack. 1,177 of
those deaths were from the USS Arizona,
while 429 of the deaths were from the USS Oklahoma.
The crew of the USS Oklahoma did everything they could to fight back. In the first ten minutes of the battle, though, eight torpedoes hit the Oklahoma, and she began to capsize. A ninth torpedo would hit her as she sunk in the mud. 14 Marines, and 415 sailors would give their lives. 32 men were cut out through the hull while the others were beneath the waterline. Banging could be heard for over 3 days and then there was silence.
After the battle, the Navy decided that they could not salvage the Oklahoma due to how much damage she had received. The difficult savage job began in March 1943, and Oklahoma entered dry dock 28 December. Decommissioning September 1, 1944, Oklahoma was stripped of guns and superstructure, and sold December 5, 1946 to Moore Drydock Co., Oakland, Calif. Oklahoma parted her tow line and sank May 17, 1947. 540 miles out, bound from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco. Today, there is a memorial to the USS Oklahoma and the 429 sailors and marines lost on December 7, 1941, located on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Ford Island
is seen in this aerial view during the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor December
7, 1941 in Hawaii.
(The photo was taken from a Japanese plane.)
Remember
the fallen: In all, 429 people on board the
battleship were killed in the attack.
Only 35 were identified in the years immediately after.
Battleship
USS Oklahoma unturned hull at the bottom of Pearl Harbor
after the devastating Japanese bombing attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
WWII
from MICHIGAN - 2471
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Korea
from MICHIGAN - 341
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Cold War
from MICHIGAN - 4
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Viet Nam
from MICHIGAN - 48
RECENTLY
FOUND
HEROES in 2018
Navy Aviation Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Durell Wade, 24, Calhoun Mississippi, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Wade was assigned to the 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 Wade.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released 7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Wade's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman recently accounted for from World War II are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Navy Fireman 2nd Class John D. Wheeler,
26, of Gaither, Arkansas, accounted for on Aug. 14, 2017, will be
buried April 28 in Harrison, Arkansas. On Dec. 7, 1941, Wheeler was assigned to
the 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 Wheeler.
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.
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
identifications 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 Wheeler.
In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy
memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS
Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the
NMCP for analysis.
To identify Wheeler’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, as well
as dental comparisons and anthropological analysis, and circumstantial evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Leonard V. Purkapile, 26, of
Potosi, Wisconsin, accounted for on February 12, will be buried April
26, in Lancaster, Wisconsin. In late November 1950, Purkapile was a member of
Company E, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division,
engaged in combat operations against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF)
in the vicinity of Unsan, while withdrawing southeast to Yongbyon, North Korea.
Following the battle, Purkapile could not be accounted for and he was reported
as missing in action on Nov. 28, 1950. By the end of the war, his status was
changed to deceased and his remains deemed non-recoverable.
On November 30, 1993, North Korea unilaterally turned over 33
boxes containing remains believed to be U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean
War. The remains in one box were reportedly recovered in the vicinity of
Okchang-ri, Nyongbyon County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea, which was
less than three kilometers from where Purkapile was last seen.
To identify Purkapile’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the
Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA and
autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis, as well as anthropological analysis and
circumstantial evidence.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Joe M. Kelley,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now
been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Kelley was assigned to the 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 Kelley.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Kelley's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Milton M. Beed, 30,
of Meadow Grove, Nebraska, accounted for on Dec. 4, 2017, will be
buried April 25 in Norfolk, Nebraska. In February 1951, Beed was a member of
Company A, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division,
supporting Republic of Korea Army attacks against units of the Chinese People’s
Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in the village of Hoengsong, an area known as the
Central Corridor in South Korea. After enduring sustained enemy attacks, the
American units withdrew to Wonju, South Korea. It was during this withdrawal
that Beed was reported missing, as of Feb. 12, 1951.
In December 1951, Beed’s name appeared on a list provided by the
CPVF and Korean People’s Army (KPA) of allied service members who died while in
their custody. One returning American prisoner of war
reported that Beed had died while a prisoner at the Suan Prisoner of War Camp
Complex in North Korea. Based off of this information, the Army declared him
deceased as of Oct. 31, 1951.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea returned to the United States
208 boxes of commingled human remains, which were later determined to contain
the remains of at least 400 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. On May
28, 1992, North Korea turned over 15 boxes of remains believed to be
unaccounted-for Americans from the war.
To identify Beed’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR)
DNA analysis, dental and anthropological and chest radiograph comparison
analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Army Pvt. Raymond Sinowitz, 25
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
a U.S. serviceman, captured during World War II, has been identified and is
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pvt. Raymond Sinowitz, 25, of
Bronx, New York, accounted for on Aug. 18 2017, will be buried April
23 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On Dec. 8, 1941,
Sinowitz was a member of 454th Ordnance Company, 27th Bombardment Group, the Far
East Air Force, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. Intense
fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942,
and of the Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were taken
prisoner; including many who were forced to endure the Bataan Death March, en
route to Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camps, including the POW camp at
Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines. Sinowitz was among those
reported captured after the surrender of Corregidor and who were eventually
moved to the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp
during the remaining years of the war.
According to prisoner records, Sinowitz died on
Sept. 26, 1942, and was buried along with fellow prisoners in the local
Cabanatuan camp cemetery.
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 cemetery near Manila. In late 1947, the
AGRS again exhumed the remains at the Manila cemetery in an attempt to identify
them. Due to the circumstances of the POW deaths and burials, the extensive
commingling, and the limited identification technologies of the time, all of the
remains could not be individually identified. The unidentified remains were
reburied as unknowns in the present-day Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
In May 2016, the Secretary of the Army granted permission to
exhume six graves associated with the Cabanatuan Common Grave 439. On May 11,
2017, the remains were sent to DPAA for identification.
To identify Sinowitz’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, as well
as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental
comparisons and anthropological analysis.
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Vincent L.
Politte, 19, ST. LOUIS Mo. killed during World War II, has now been
accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Politte served as a gunner with the 345th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. He
was killed while participating in a raid on the Ploesti Oil Refinery complex
north of Bucharest, Romania, during Operation Tidal Wave. The goal of the
operation was to destroy the refineries in the area in order to hamper the
German war effort. During the raid, Politte’s B-24 Liberator aircraft was hit by
machine gun fire and crashed. Following the war, his remains could not be
identified.
DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission for
their assistance in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Politte’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Florence American Cemetery Impruenta, Italy, an American Battle Monuments
Commission site, along with the other MIAs from WWII. Although interred as an
Unknown in Neuville American Cemetery, Politte’s grave was meticulously cared
for over the past 70 years by the ABMC. A rosette will be placed next to his
name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Vietnam War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Air Force Reserve 1st Lt. David T.
Dinan, III, 25, of Nutley, New Jersey, accounted for on Aug. 7, 2017,
will be buried April 25 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On
March 17, 1969, Dinan was a member of the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 288th
Tactical Fighter Wing, 7th Air Force, and was the pilot of the number two
aircraft in a flight of two F-105s on a strike mission over northern Laos.
During the second strafing pass over the target, Dinan transmitted a distress
message. The Forward Air Controller then observed Dinan’s parachute enter the
jungle, as well as an aircraft crash. Search and rescue aircraft conducted an
aerial search and located a parachute and confirmed the death of the pilot,
however, due to enemy fire in the area and the hazardous location, his body
could not be recovered. The U.S. Air Force subsequently reported Dinan as killed
in action.
In March 2014, a joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.)
team investigated a site near Ban Khap, Xiangkoang Province, associated with
Dinan’s loss, recovering personal effects associated with Dinan.
In June 2016, a joint U.S./L.P.D.R. team excavated the same site
near Ban Khap, recovering osseous remains and material evidence. The remains
were sent to DPAA for analysis.
To identify Dinan’s remains, DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), as well as dental and
anthropological analysis, and circumstantial evidence.
Army Pfc. John H. Walker,
missing from World War II, has now been accounted for.
On Nov. 24, 1944, Walker was a member of Company E, 2nd
Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, when he was reported
missing in action after his unit engaged in fierce fighting on Hill 207 near
Schönthal, Germany in the Hürtgen Forest. With no evidence that Walker had been
captured or survived combat, his status was changed to deceased on Nov. 25,
1945.
DPAA is grateful to Mr. Kueppers and the American Battle
Monuments Commission for their partnership with this disinterment and recovery.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Walker’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission in
Margraten, along with the others missing from WWII. Although interred as an
Unknown in Neuville American Cemetery, Walker’s grave was meticulously cared for
over the past 70 years by the ABMC.A rosette will be placed next to his name to
indicate he has been accounted for.
Marine Corps Pfc. Clarence E. Drumheiser, 21,
Fresno, Ca.
killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
In November 1943, Drumheiser was assigned to Company D, 1st
Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which
landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the
Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over
several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and
Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were
virtually annihilated. Drumheiser died on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22,
1943.
DPAA is appreciative to the Department of Veterans Affairs for
their partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Drumheiser’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the other MIAs from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to
his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Lester R. Walker,
19, of Ferriday, Louisiana, accounted for on Sept. 26, 2017, will be
buried April 18 in Downsville, Louisiana. On Sept. 3, 1950, Walker was a member
of Battery B, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd
Infantry Division, when he was declared missing in action in the vicinity of
Changnyeong, South Korea, while attached to Task Force Haynes. Based on a lack
of information concerning his status, the U.S. Army declared him deceased and
his remains non-recoverable.
Despite the efforts of the Army Graves Registration Services (AGRS)
and Central Identification Unit (CIU) in Kokura, Japan, more than 800 sets of
unidentified remains were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, as “Unknowns,” including one set
of remains designated “Unknown X-2026.”
During the initial recovery of X-2026, the AGRS interviewed
several local villagers who stated that in mid-September 1950, two U.S.
prisoners were brought to their village. The prisoners reported to the villagers
that they had been captured at the Naktong River near Changnyung. The witnesses
recounted that the prisoners were killed by enemy forces, then buried by locals
several days later.
After a thorough historical and scientific analysis of
information associated with X-2026, it was determined that the remains could
likely be identified. After receipt of approval, the remains were disinterred
from the Punchbowl on Aug. 13, 2017, and sent to the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Walker’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his
records, as well as circumstantial evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Master Sgt. Finley J. Davis, 39, of
Pittsburgh, accounted for on Aug. 8, 2017, will be buried April 19 in
North Charleston, South Carolina. In late 1950, Davis was a member of Company D,
2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, when his unit was fighting
off persistent Chinese attacks in the Ch’ongch’on River area in northwest North
Korea. The battle began on Nov. 25, 1950, when the Chinese People’s Volunteer
Forces (CPVF) initiated an offensive along the 8th Army front. All 8th Army
units were ordered to withdraw on November 29. Davis’ battalion was assigned to
provide security for the division. The unit was attacked again by the CPVF and
Davis was reported missing in action as of Dec. 1, 1950.
Several repatriated American prisoners of war
reported that Davis died Camp 5.
Although the U.S. Army Graves Registration Service planned to
recover American remains that remained north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone
after the war, administrative details between the United Nations Command and
North Korea complicated recovery efforts. An agreement was made and in September
and October 1954, in what was known as Operation Glory, remains were returned.
However, Davis’ remains were not included and he was declared non-recoverable. A
set of remains marked as X-14024 were processed for identification, but an
association could not be made and they were returned to the United States for
burial.
After a thorough historical and scientific analysis, DPAA
requested the exhumation of 22 unresolved individuals, including Davis. Unknown
X-14024 was disinterred from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in
Honolulu, known as the Punchbowl, on June 17, 2014 and sent to the laboratory
for analysis.
To identify Davis’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, as well
as dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, and
circumstantial evidence.
Navy Steward Mate 1st Class Ignacio C. Farfan,
Oklahoma,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has
now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Farfan was assigned to the 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 Farfan.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Farfan's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Chief Machinist's Mate Dean S. Sanders,
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now
been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Sanders was assigned to the 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 Sanders.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Sanders' name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a
U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are being returned to
his family for burial with full military honors.
Navy Reserve Lt. j.g. Irvin E. Rink, 25, of Wichita, Kansas,
accounted for on July 10, 2017, will be buried April 16 in his hometown. On Aug.
4, 1943, Rink was a member of Fighting Squadron Twenty Seven (VF-27), when eight
pilots flying F4F-4 Wildcat aircraft took off from the Russell Islands, Solomon
Islands, to escort a Catalina seaplane on a mission to Enogai Inlet, New Georgia
Island. As the seaplane attempted to land at Enogai Inlet, the escort aircraft
were attacked by Japanese fighter planes. Following the battle, the element
returned to the Russell Islands, however Rink did not return. He was reported
missing in action on Aug. 4, 1943. Based on a lack of information regarding his
whereabouts, he was declared deceased on Jan. 8, 1946.
In March 2008, Mark Roche, an American diver, photographed an
F4F-4 aircraft inverted on a reef approximately 45 feet under water off the
northwest coast of New Georgia. He recovered human remains and material evidence
from the wreckage and transferred them to the U.S. Consulate in Honiara,
Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
In February 2013, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (predecessor
to DPAA) team traveled to the Solomon Islands where they received possible
remains from the crash site. The remains were sent to the laboratory and
consolidated the remains found in 2008.
To identify Rink’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR)
DNA, which matched his family, as well as anthropological analysis, which
matched Rink’s records, and historical evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, have been
identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military
honors.
Air Force Col. Roosevelt Hestle, Jr.,
38, of Orlando, accounted for on June 6, 2017, will be buried April
13, 2018 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On July 6, 1966,
Hestle was a pilot assigned to the 388th Tactical Fighter Squadron, aboard the
lead aircraft in a flight of four F-105s on a strike mission against
surface-to-air missile sites in northern Vietnam. As they approached the target,
Hestle issued a missile launch warning, and all aircraft began evasive action by
diving toward the ground. As the aircraft approached the town of Thai Ngyuen,
anti-aircraft began firing at them. Due to the evasive action, the other
aircraft lost sight of Hestle. Crews aboard one aircraft observed a large ball
rising from the ground, though no crash was observed. Contact attempts were
unsuccessful and no parachutes or distress signals were seen or heard. Due to
hostile conditions in the area, search and rescue attempts could not be
initiated and an aerial search of the area produced no results. Based on this
information, Hestle was declared missing in action.
In January 1995, during the 33rd Joint Field Activity (JFA), a
joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) team excavated an F-105 crash
site near Binh Son Village. Several pieces of life support equipment were
recovered, but no remains were recovered.
On April 15, 2015, a Joint Forensic Review (JFR) team received
possible human remains recovered by a Vietnamese national who was farming in the
area in 1996. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Hestle’s remains, DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), which matched his brother, as well
as anthropological analysis, which matched his records and circumstantial
evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Frank Wood, 25, of
Jackson, Ohio, accounted for on Aug. 28, 2017, will be buried April
14 in Franklin, North Carolina. On Dec. 7, 1941, Wood 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 Wood.
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.
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
identifications 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 Wood.
In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy
memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS
Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the
NMCP for analysis.
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To identify Wood’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which
matched his family, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis,
to include dental comparisons and anthropological analysis, which matched his
records.
Air Force Col. Peter J. Stewart, 44, Winter Haven
Fl. missing from the Vietnam
War, has now been accounted for.
On March 15, 1966, Stewart, a member of Headquarters, 8th
Tactical Fighter Wing, was the pilot of a two-seater F-4C aircraft, the second
in a flight of two on an armed reconnaissance mission over northern Vietnam. The
lead aircraft spotted two vehicles as the flight approached the target area and
Stewart responded he was going to strafe the trucks. The lead aircraft, while
maneuvering to engage the targets, lost sight of Stewart’s aircraft, but saw a
bright orange explosion over the trucks. The flight lead immediately attempted
to contact Stewart’s aircraft without result. No parachutes or emergency signals
were seen, and all subsequent attempts to contact Stewart and his aircraft
commander were unsuccessful. An organized search was not possible due to
hostilities in the area. Stewart was subsequently declared missing in action.
His status was later amended to deceased.
In June 2017, DPAA identified the remains of the aircraft
commander, Col. Martin R. Scott.
The support from the government and the people of Vietnam was
vital to the success of this recovery.
Stewart’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others
unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name
to indicate he has been accounted for.
Army Staff Sgt. Marshall F. Kipina, 21,
Calumet MI went
missing from the Vietnam War, has now been accounted for.
On July 13, 1966 Kipina was assigned to the 131st Aviation
Company, serving as an observer aboard an OV-1C aircraft, on a night
surveillance mission from Phu Bai Airfield over Attapu Province, Laos People’s
Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.). Visibility was poor due to heavy thunderstorms.
Radar and radio contact were lost with the aircraft, which was not uncommon due
to the mountainous terrain in that part of Laos. When the aircraft did not
return as scheduled, search efforts were initiated, but no crash site was
found.
At 2300 hours on 13 July 1966, Capt. Robert G. Nopp, pilot, and then PFC Marshall Kipina, observer/airborne sensor operator; comprised the crew of an OV1C aircraft (serial #612675), call sign "Iron Spud." The Mohawk departed Phu Bai Airbase on a classified single aircraft night surveillance mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The mission identifiers for these types of reconnaissance missions were "Steel Tiger" and "Tiger Hound." Prior to take off, all radios, navigational aids and altitude instruments were reported functioning properly. It was carrying 4 ½ hours of fuel for its 2 ½ hour mission. Weather conditions in the area were moderate thunderstorms, heavy rain and poor visibility.
This area of extreme south-eastern Laos was considered a major artery of the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail. When North Vietnam began to increase its military strength in South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. This border road was used by the Communists to transport weapons, supplies and troops from North Vietnam into South Vietnam, and was frequently no more than a path cut through the jungle covered mountains. US forces used all assets available to them to stop this flow of men and supplies from moving south into the war zone.
The last known voice and radar contact with the Mohawk was made at 2314 hours on
13 July. At that time there was no indication of trouble. Loosing radar contact
with aircraft in this region of Laos was quite common due to the mountainous
terrain. Later when it was determined the aircraft was overdue, a ramp check of
all airfields to which Capt. Nopp could have diverted were contacted, but none
could provide any information about the missing Mohawk.
DPAA is grateful to the government and people of Laos for their
assistance in accounting for Kipina.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Kipina's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others
unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name
to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Master Sgt. George R. Housekeeper,
Jr., 28, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, accounted for on June 15, 2017,
will be buried April 11, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C.
In late November 1950, Housekeeper was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion,
31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Approximately 2,500 U.S. and 700
South Korean soldiers assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT),
which was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was
attacked by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. The American forces withdrew
south with the Chinese attacks continuing. By December 6, the U.S. Army
evacuated approximately 1,500 wounded service members; the remaining soldiers
had been either captured or killed in enemy territory. Because Housekeeper could
not be accounted for by his unit at the end of the battle, he was reported
missing in action on Dec. 12, 1950.
Housekeeper’s name did not appear on any prisoner of war lists
and no returning American prisoners reported Housekeeper as a prisoner of war.
Due to the prolonged lack of evidence, the U.S. Army declared him deceased as of
Dec. 31, 1953.
In September 2004, a joint U.S. and Korean People’s Army (KPA)
recovery team conducted a
Joint Recovery Operation at a burial site in the vicinity of
Twikkae Village, Changjin District, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea, on the
east side of the Chosin Reservoir. The site was consistent with the 31st RCT’s
location during its withdrawal. During the excavation, the recovery team
recovered material evidence and several sets of osseous material. The remains
were sent to the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Housekeeper’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the
Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR)
DNA analysis, which matched his brother, as well as anthropological analysis,
which matched his records, and circumstantial evidence.
Army Cpl. Thomas W. Reagan, missing from the Korean War, was
accounted for on March 30, 2018.
In August 1950, Reagan was assigned to Company A, 14th
Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, participating in the
defense of the 24th ID’s main supply route and the town of Yongsan in an
area known as the Naktong Bulge, in South Korea. Reagan’s company, an
engineer unit, was overwhelmed and outmaneuvered by the Korean People’s
Army, and utilized as an infantry unit in an attempt to hold open the supply
route. On Aug. 12, 1950, the company was able to withdraw to a safe area to
account for their Soldiers. Reagan could not be accounted for and was
declared missing in action.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for
their partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Reagan's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing in
Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A
rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted
for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine Corps Pvt. Edwin W. Jordan, 19, of Pittsburgh, and
accounted for on Sept. 27, 2017, will be buried April 9, in Arlington National
Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. In November 1943, Jordan was assigned to Company
F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force
which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in
the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island.
Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and
Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were
virtually annihilated. Jordan died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20,
1943.
The battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military
because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from
which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their
Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S.
service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield
cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves
Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio Island, but
Jordan’s remains were not recovered. On Feb. 28, 1949, a military review board
declared Jordan’s remains non-recoverable.
In July 2017, through a partnership with History Flight, Inc.,
DPAA used advanced investigative techniques to locate further areas believed to
contain the remains of men buried on Tarawa. The recovered remains were sent to
the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Jordan’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his
records, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Robert V. Young, 23,
McDonough County, Illinois,
was killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Young was assigned to the 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 Young.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Young's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Seaman 1st Class William G. Bruesewitz, 26,
Almena,
Wisconsin,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has
now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Bruesewitz was assigned to the 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 Bruesewitz .
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Bruesewitz' name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Army Sgt. Donald L. Baker, missing from the Korean War, has now
been accounted for.
In September 1950, Baker was a member of Company H, 2nd
Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was reported
missing in action on Sept. 6, 1950, as a result of fighting that occurred
between his unit and enemy forces near Haman, South Korea.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Baker's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing in
Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Bernard V. Doyle,
Fort Wayne, Indiana
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has
now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Doyle was assigned to the 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 Doyle.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Doyle's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Percy C. Mathews, 25,
Luverne, Crenshaw County, Alabama
killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
On May 29, 2943, Mathews was a member of the 422nd Bombardment
Squadron, 305th Bombardment Group, 8th U.S. Air Force, participating in a strike
against the German submarine base at Saint-Nazaire, France. The B-17 Mathews was
aboard was hit by enemy fire as it left the target area. Mathews did not make it
out of the bomber before it crashed. Survivors believed the aircraft crashed
approximately 150 kilometers from Saint-Nazaire, near the French village of
Quintin. German reports indicated one casualty was recovered from the wreckage
of the plane, though no burial information was provided.
DPAA is grateful to the French government and the American Battle
Monuments Commission for their partnership in this recovery.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Mathews’ name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Cambridge American Cemetery in the United Kingdom, an American Battle Monuments
Commission site. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has
been accounted for.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Walter C. Foley,
killed during the attack
on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Foley was assigned to the 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 Foley.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Foley's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Navy Reserve Aviation Ordnance man 2nd
Class Ora H. Sharninghouse, Jr., 22, of McComb, Ohio, accounted for
on Aug. 10, 2017, will be buried April 7 in Findlay, Ohio. On Sept. 8, 1944,
Sharninghouse was a member of the Navy Torpedo Squadron Eighteen (VT-18), USS
Intrepid, on a bombing mission against Japanese positions on Babelthuap Island,
Palau. As the aircraft reached the target area, the pilot began a dive near
Bokerugeru Point and the crew released its 2,000-pound bomb. While attempting to
pull out of the dive, the bomb hit an ammunition dump and exploded. The
explosion tore the tail from the aircraft, causing it to crash off-shore.
Sharninghouse was reported missing in action.
After combat operations in the area ceased, the American Graves
Registration Service- Philippine Command travelled to Palau to investigate and
attempt to recover missing service members. No record of the crash site was
found.
In 2005, BentProp Project, a nonprofit NGO of volunteers who work
with DPAA in the Republic of Palau, located a piece of the starboard wing of an
aircraft near Bokerugeru Point. Subsequent investigations located the main body
of the aircraft offshore.
In 2014, subsequent investigations by Project Recover team
members located the main body of the aircraft offshore and possible human
remains were located within the main body of the aircraft, and sent to the
Central Identification Laboratory for analysis.
In April 2015, a DPAA Underwater Recovery Team excavated the site
and recovered additional remains and material evidence.
To identify Sharninghouse’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the
Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR)
DNA analysis, which matched his family; anthropological analysis, which matched
his records; and historical evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine Corps Pfc. Lyle E. Charpilloz,
19, of Silverton, Oregon, accounted for on Sept. 27, 2017, will be
buried April 7, in Salem, Oregon. In November 1943, Charpilloz was assigned to
Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed
against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa
Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several
days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were
killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually
annihilated. Charpilloz died on the first day of the
battle, Nov. 20, 1943.
The battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military
because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from
which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their
Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S.
service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield
cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves
Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio Island, but
Charpilloz’ remains were not recovered. On Feb. 10, 1949, a military review
board declared Charpilloz’ remains non-recoverable.
In May 2014, through a partnership with History Flight, Inc.,
DPAA received remains from a site where Charpilloz was believed to have been
buried. The recovered remains were sent to the laboratory for analysis.
On Oct. 17, 2016, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-5 from the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu,
and submitted the remains for analysis. Based on consistent recovery context and
shared DNA, the remains were consolidated with those accessioned in 2014.
To identify Charpilloz’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the
Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), which matched
his family, dental and anthropological analysis, which matched his records, as
well as circumstantial evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine Corps Pvt. John M. Tillman, 21,
of Reno, Nevada, accounted for on Sept. 5, 2017, will be buried April
6, in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. In November
1943, Tillman was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd
Marine Division, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small
island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to
secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa,
approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were
wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated.
Tillman died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military
success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because
the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which
to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central
Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S.
service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield
cemeteries on the island. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company
conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but
Tillman’s remains were not identified. All of the remains found on Tarawa were
sent to the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory for
identification in 1947. By 1949, the remains that had not been identified were
interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Honolulu.
On March 13, 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-35 from the
NMCP and sent the remains to DPAA for analysis.
To identify Tillman’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his
records, as well as circumstantial evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. William H. Harth,
Jr., 22, of Columbia, South Carolina, accounted for on Nov. 3, 2017,
will be buried April 6 in his hometown. In the summer of 1943, Harth was a
bombardier assigned to the 329th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment
Group (Heavy), which was known as “The Traveling Circus.” On Aug. 1, 1943, he
served on a B-24D aircraft, nicknamed “Hell’s Angels,” when he was participating
in a historic mission, code-named Operation TIDAL WAVE, which was the first
large-scale, low-altitude attack by U.S. heavy bomber aircraft on Ploesti,
Romania. As Harth’s aircraft approached Ploesti, it was hit by German
anti-aircraft fire. He was declared missing in action when his aircraft failed
to return following the mission.
In the days following the bombing raid, Romanian officials and
civilians recovered and interred the remains of the deceased American Airmen in
the Hero Section of the Bolovan Cemetery.
In 1946 and 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC)
teams disinterred the remains of Americans killed in the raid, and reinterred
them in the American Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium (now
known as Ardennes American Cemetery). The AGRC was able to identify 145 Airmen
killed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, including three of Harth’s crewmates,
however he was listed as non-recoverable. One set of unidentified remains was
listed as Unknown X-5192 Neuville.
After a thorough historical and scientific analysis, it was
determined that X-5192 could likely be identified. After receiving approval, on
April 11, 2017, Unknown X-5192 was disinterred from Neuville and sent to DPAA
for analysis.
To identify Harth’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and DNA analysis,
which matched his family, as well as dental comparisons and anthropological
analysis, which matched his records, and circumstantial evidence
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted for from the Vietnam War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Air Force Col. Edgar F. Davis, 32, of
Goldsboro, North Carolina, accounted for on Dec. 19, 2017, will be
buried April 6 in his hometown. On Sept. 17, 1968, Davis was a navigator aboard
a RF-4C Phantom fighter-bomber aircraft, assigned to the 11th Tactical
Reconnaissance Squadron, 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing. Davis and his pilot
were on a night photo-reconnaissance mission over the Lao People’s Democratic
Republic (L.P.D.R.) when they were shot down by anti-aircraft artillery fire.
The pilot ejected out of the aircraft and was rescued, however no contact could
be established with Davis. Because of this, he was declared missing in action.
Search and rescue efforts were suspended after failing to locate Davis or the
aircraft wreckage. Davis was later declared deceased.
Between August 2001 and February 2015, joint U.S./L.P.D.R. teams
investigated a crash site six times that correlated with Davis’ loss.
Excavations recovered personal effects, but analysis could not confirm whether
Davis was in the aircraft at the time of the crash. A subsequent team excavated
an ejection seat location associated with the crash.
In 2015, a Stony Beach debriefer in Bangkok, Thailand obtained
information from a villager concerning the burial location of a U.S. service
member in Boulapha District, Khammouan Province, L.P.D.R. The villager claimed
that in 1968, his father came across the remains of a U.S. pilot and buried them
near his house. The villager turned over bone fragments, which were sent to DPAA
for analysis.
To identify Davis’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA and autosomal (auSTR)
DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as material and circumstantial
evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently-accounted for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Roy J. Hopper, 21, of Miami,
accounted for on June 23, 2017, will be buried April 6 in Dayton, Ohio. In July
1950, Hopper was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd
Battalion 19th Infantry Regiment. He was reportedly killed in action on July 31,
1950, when his battalion, along with another battalion, was engaged in a
fighting withdrawal against North Korean forces in Chinju, South Korea. The
enemy had control of the area following the battle, preventing a search for his
remains. After the battle Hopper’s remains were not identified.
In early 1951, the graves at Masan cemetery were exhumed and the
unknowns were transferred to the U.S. Army’s Central Identification unit in
Kokura, Japan. Remains that could not be identified were transferred to the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, including “Unknown
X-119.”
After thorough historical and scientific analysis, it was
determined that X-119 could likely be identified. After receiving approval,
X-119 was disinterred on Jan. 9, 2017 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for
analysis.
To identify Hopper’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which
matched his brother and sister, as well as dental and anthropological analysis,
which matched his records, and circumstantial evidence.
Navy Radioman 3rd Class Jack R. Goldwater, 19,
San Francisco County, California,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has
now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Goldwater was assigned to the 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 Goldwater.
"Jack was not meant to be on duty that day but had taken a
friend’s shift."
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Goldwater's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. William C. McDowell, 20, of
Stuttgart, Arkansas, accounted for on January 10, will be buried
April 4 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. In late November,
1950, McDowell was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment,
7th Infantry Division. Approximately 2,500 U.S. and 700 South Korean soldiers
assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which was deployed east of
the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was attacked by overwhelming numbers
of Chinese forces. As the Chinese attacks continued, American forces withdrew
south. By December 6, the U.S. Army evacuated approximately 1,500 service
members; the remaining soldiers had been either captured, killed or missing in
enemy territory. Because McDowell could not be accounted for by his unit at the
end of the battle, he was reported missing in action as of Dec. 2, 1950.
McDowell’s name did not appear on any prisoner of war lists and
no returning Americans reported McDowell as a prisoner of war. Due to the
prolonged lack of evidence, the U.S. Army declared him deceased as of March 15,
1954.
On Dec. 1, 1994, North Korea unilaterally turned over 33 boxes of
remains, which were purportedly recovered from Hwangcho-ri, Changjin County,
South Hamgyong Province, North Korea. The remains were accessioned to the
Central Identification Laboratory, a predecessor to DPAA, in Hawaii.
To identify McDowell’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the
Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA and
autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis, which matched his family, anthropological
analysis, which matched his records, and material evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Navy Water Tender 2nd Class Porter L.
Rich, 27, of Lake Preston, South Dakota, accounted for on Aug. 28,
2017, will be buried March 31 in his hometown. On Dec. 7, 1941, Rich 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 Rich.
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.
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
identifications 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 Rich.
In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy
memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS
Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the
NMCP for analysis.
To identify Rich’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) analysis, which
matched his family, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis,
to include dental comparisons and anthropological analysis, which matched his
records.
Missing
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Pete W. Simon, 34,
of Grindstone, Pennsylvania, accounted for on Jan. 11, 2018, will be
buried March 31 in Northfield, Ohio. In September 1950, Simon was a member of
Company G, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division,
participating in a defense of the Pusan Perimeter, a large defensive line west
and north of Pusan, South Korea. Simon was reported to have been killed in
action Sept. 5, 1950, but his remains were not located following the battle.
In May 1951, American Graves Registration Service personnel
recovered three sets of remains after a villager notified them of remains near
his village on Hill 762. The remains were sent to the Tanggok United Nations
Military Cemetery. One set of remains, identified as Unknown X-1085 Tanggok,
were later transferred to the Central Identification Unit-Kokura for possible
identification. However, an identification could not be established and the
remains were declared unidentifiable and interred at the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In October 2017, based on research and analysis, DPAA disinterred
Unknown X-1085 from the Punchbowl and accessioned the remains to the laboratory
for identification.
To identify Simon’s remains, scientists from DPAA used laboratory
analysis, including anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis,
which matched his records, and material evidence.
DPAA is grateful to the South Korean government and the
Department of Veterans Affairs for their assistance in this recovery.
March 23
Army Air Forces Capt. George Van Vleet, 34,
Fresno County, California,
killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
On Jan. 21, 1944, Van Vleet was a member of the 38th Bombardment
Squadron, (Heavy), 30th Bombardment Group, stationed at Hawkins Field, Helen
Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, when the B-24J bomber aircraft he was a
passenger on crashed shortly after take-off.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
DPAA is grateful to History Flight, Inc., the Department of
Veterans Affairs and the Republic Kiribati of for their partnerships in this
mission.
Van Vleet’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, site along with the other MIAs from WWII. A rosette will be placed
next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Thomas H. Mullins, 18, of
Harriman, Tennessee, accounted for on June 8, 2017, will be buried
March 29 in St. Petersburg, Florida. On Nov. 2, 1950, Mullins was a member of
Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was
reported missing in action on Nov. 2, 1950, following combat between the Chinese
People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) and his regiment, in the vicinity of Unsan,
North Korea. Approximately 600 men were killed, captured or missing from his
battalion. Mullins was subsequently declared missing in action.
At the end of the war, during “Operation Big Switch,” where all
remaining prisoners of war were returned, former prisoners were interviewed.
One reported that Mullins died while being held in POW
Camp 5, Pyokdong, North Korea.
On Dec. 14, 1993, North Korea unilaterally turned over 33 boxes
containing remains believed to be unaccounted for Americans from the Korean War.
The remains were reportedly recovered from Tongju-ri, Pyokdong County, North
Pyongan Province, North Korea, which was the known location of POW Camp 5.
To identify Mullins’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome (Y-STR)
DNA analysis, which matched two cousins, as well as anthropological analysis,
which matched his records, and circumstantial evidence.
Airman
March 22
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Frank A.
Fazekas, 22, of Trenton, New Jersey, accounted for on Aug. 7, 2017,
will be buried March 28 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On
May 27, 1944, Fazekas was a member of the 22nd Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter
Group, when he was returning from a mission over northern France and his P-47
Thunderbolt aircraft came under enemy fire. His aircraft crashed in a field
north of the French village of Buysscheure. His remains were not recovered and
the U.S. Army reported him deceased on May 27, 1944.
In July 1946, a British recovery team investigated a crash site
associated with Fazekas’ loss. The team recovered aircraft parts and personal
effects, but his remains were not recovered. Based on this information, a Board
of Officers of the American Graves Registration Command declared his remains
unrecoverable.
On July 16, 2012, a team of historians and an anthropologist from
the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office and Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command
(both predecessors to DPAA) visited the crash site. The team received assistance
from local residents and officials, as well as research from Mr. Joss Leclercq,
a French historian. In August 2016, a team from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, augmented by DPAA, excavated the crash site, recovering
possible remains. The remains were sent to DPAA on August 31, 2016.
To identify Fazekas’ remains, DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), which matched his family, as well as
anthropological analysis, which matched his records, and circumstantial
evidence.
Navy Fireman 1st Class Jarvis G. Outland, 22,
North
Carolina,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War
II, has now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Outland was assigned to the 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 Outland.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Outland's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Airman
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, have been
identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military
honors.
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Donald J.
Hall, 29, of Stroud, Oklahoma, will be buried March 26 in Arlington
National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On Feb. 6, 1967, Hall was a member of
Detachment 5, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, when he, along with
three other service members, were flying an HH-3E helicopter on a rescue and
recovery mission over northern Vietnam. After rescuing the pilot of a downed
aircraft, Hall’s helicopter was hit by enemy ground fire, resulting in an
internal explosion and crash. Hall was subsequently reported missing in action.
His status was later amended to deceased.
In March 2017, a Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP)
team excavated a crash site associated with Hall’s loss, near Bai Dinh Hamlet,
Dan Hoa Village, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam, and recovered possible osseous
remains and material evidence. On March 31, 2017, a Joint Forensic Review team
examined the possible remains in Da Nang and recommended them for repatriation
to the United States. The remains were sent to DPAA on April 2, 2017.
To identify Hall’s remains, DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis,
which matched his family, as well as anthropological analysis, which matched his
records and circumstantial evidence.
The support from the government of Vietnam was vital to the
success of this recovery.
Today there are 1,600 American servicemen and civilians who are
still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Hall’s name is recorded on the
Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in
Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from the Vietnam War. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
March 16
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, unaccounted for since World War II, have been
identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military
honors.
Army Pvt. Rudolph Johnson, 20, of
Malvern, Arkansas, will be buried March 23 in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In February 1945, Johnson was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 365th
Infantry Regiment, 92nd Infantry Division. In an era of racial segregation, the
92nd ID was the only African-American division to fight in Europe. The unit
fought on the western most portion of the Gothic Line in northern Italy. Its
zone of operations consisted of two contiguous sectors; one sector along the
Ligurian Sea coastline and the other in the Serchio River Valley. As part of
Operation Fourth Term, Johnson’s regiment fought for days to secure positions
along the Lama di Sotto ridge against strong German counterattacks. Johnson was
reported missing in action as of Feb. 6, 1945. The War Department changed his
status to killed in action on Feb. 21. 1945.
On May 9, 1947, American Graves Registration Service personnel
recovered a set of remains designated as “Unknown X-298” in the vicinity of Lama
di Sotto, Italy. They recovered a second set of remains in the same
investigation and identified them as another member of Johnson’s regiment.
Unknown X-298 could not be identified and was buried at the United States
Military Cemetery at Castelfiorentino, Italy on May 14, 1947.
On Sept. 17, 1948, the American Graves Registration Services
personnel disinterred Unknown X-298 and tried unsuccessfully to make an
identification. The remains were reinterred in the USMC Florence American
Cemetery on Dec. 16, 1949.
Researchers at DPAA conducted a thorough historical and
scientific analysis, and determined that X-298 could likely be identified. After
receiving approval, on June 13, 2016, X-298 was disinterred and sent to DPAA for
analysis.
To identify Johnson’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which
matched his family, as well as dental and anthropological analysis, which
matched his records, and historical evidence.
March 15
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Manuel
Menendez, 20, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, will be buried March 22 in
Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. In November 1943, Menendez
was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine
Division, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of
Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the
island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000
Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the
Japanese were virtually annihilated. Menendez died on the first day of the
battle, Nov. 20, 1943.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military
success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because
the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which
to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central
Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S.
service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield
cemeteries on the island. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company
conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but
Menendez’ remains were not identified. All of the remains found on Tarawa were
sent to the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory for
identification in 1947. By 1949, the remains that had not been identified were
interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the
Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In October 2016, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-168 from the
NMCP and sent to the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Menendez’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) analysis, which
matched his family, dental and anthropological analysis, which matched his
records, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Army Sgt. Julius E. McKinney, Clay, Ak.
missing from the Korean War, has now been accounted for.
In late November 1950, McKinney was a member of Heavy Mortar
Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Approximately 2,500 U.S.
and 700 South Korean soldiers assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT),
which was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was
attacked by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. As the Chinese attacks
continued, American forces withdrew south. By December 6, the U.S. Army
evacuated approximately 1,500 service members; the remaining soldiers had been
either captured, killed or missing in enemy territory. McKinney was reported
missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after he was last seen on the east side of
the Chosin Reservoir.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
McKinney’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing in
Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
March 15
Army Staff Sgt. David Rosenkrantz, 28,
Long Beach, Ca.
killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
In September 1944, Rosenkrantz was a member of Company H, 504th
Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, participating in Operation
Market Garden, a ploy by Allied planners to break German defensive lines on the
western front by capturing a highway route through the Netherlands. On Sept. 28,
1944, Rosenkrantz’ platoon occupied Heuvelhof, a farm, located south of the town
of Groesbeek. German tanks and infantry launched a major attack that morning.
The isolated paratroopers hid among sparse trees and buildings. As Rosenkrantz
rose from his position, enemy gunfire erupted and Rosenkrantz was killed. Due to
enemy fire and the proximity to enemy troops, Rosenkrantz’ remains could not be
recovered.
DPAA is grateful to Mr. Overhand, Mr. Van Lunteren, the Royal
Netherlands Army’s Recovery and Identification Unit and the American Battle
Monuments Commission for their partnership in this recovery.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Rosenkrantz’ name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at
the Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site,
along with the other MIAs from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name
to indicate he has been accounted for.
Army Cpl. James I. Jubb, 31,
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND was
killed during the Korean War, has now been accounted for.
In August 1950, Jubb was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion,
19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, his unit suffered heavy losses
while fighting units of the North Korean People’s Army in the vicinity of the
Naktong River, South Korea. Jubb was reported missing in action on Aug. 10, 1950
when he could not be accounted for by his unit. His remains were later declared
unrecoverable.
DPAA is appreciative to the Department of Veterans Affairs for
their partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Jubb’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the NMCP
in Honolulu along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Harry E. Harkness,
22, of Lansing, Michigan, will be buried March 17 in his hometown. On
In November 1950, Harkness was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry
Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, participating in combat actions against the
Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in the vicinity of Unsan, North Korea.
Harkness was reported missing in action as of Nov. 2, 1950 when he could not be
accounted for by his unit.
Following the war, during an operation known as
“Operation Big Switch,” when prisoners of war were returned, returning Americans
from Pyoktong Camp 5 reported that Harkness had been captured and died while at
POW Camp 5 sometime between January and April 1951.
On Dec. 21, 1993, North Korea unilaterally turned over 34 boxes
containing remains reportedly to be unaccounted-for U.S. servicemen from the
Korean War. One set of remains came from Tongju-ri, Pyokdong County, North
Pyongan Province, North Korea, which corresponds to the known location of POW
Camp 5, where Harkness was believed to have died.
To identify Harkness’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR)
DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as anthropological analysis
which matched his records; and circumstantial evidence
March 9
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine Corps Pvt. George F. Patrick, 22,
of Dallas, will be buried March 17 in his hometown. In November 1943,
Patrick was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine
Division, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of
Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the
island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000
Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the
Japanese were virtually annihilated. Patrick died on the first day of the
battle, Nov. 20, 1943.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military
success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because
the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which
to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central
Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S.
service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield
cemeteries on the island. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company
conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but
Patrick’s remains were not identified. All of the remains found on Tarawa were
sent to the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory for
identification in 1947. By 1949, the remains that had not been identified were
interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the
Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In March 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-100 from the
NMCP and sent to the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Patrick’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which
matched his family, dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison
analysis, which matched his records, as well as circumstantial and material
evidence.
Airman
March 8
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. William W. Shank, 24,
HARRISONBURG, Va.
killed During World War II, has now been accounted for.
On Nov. 13, 1943, Shank was a pilot with the 338th Fighter
Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 66th Fighter Wing, 8th Fighter Command, 8th Air
Force, flying his P-38 on a mission to Bremen, Germany.
Shanks’s Army squadron was protecting allied bombers over Bremen, in northern
Germany, when it encountered 40 to 50 enemy aircraft.
Shank was killed after engaging in fierce enemy action.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
DPAA is grateful to Mr. Oeltjebruns and the American Battle
Monuments Commission for their assistance with this disinterment and recovery.
Shank’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Cambridge American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission in the
United Kingdom, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be
placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Radioman 3rd Class Howard V. Keffer,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Keffer was assigned to the 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 Keffer.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Keffer's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
March 7
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Herman W. Mulligan, 22,
Laurens County, South
Carolina, killed
during World War II, has now been accounted for.
On May 30, 1945, Mulligan was a member of Company L, 3rd
Battalion, 22nd Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division, engaged in heavy fighting
against Japanese forces on Hill 27, on the northern bank of the Kokuba Estuary,
Okinawa, Japan. A large crypt loaded with ammunition exploded, wounding dozens
and killing Mulligan.
DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission for
their partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Mulligan’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the other MIAs
from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. Leroy W. Bryant, 22, of
Autreyville, Georgia, will be buried March 9, in Columbus, Ohio. In
early February 1951, Bryant was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 9th
Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, as U.S. Republic of Korea Army (ROKA)
and United Nations Command (UNC) forces were deployed in defensive positions
across the South Korean peninsula. On February 6, Bryant’s regiment was located
in the town of Yonghyon-ni, and was tasked to determine location, position and
strength of enemy forces. Enemy forces attacked, forcing them to withdraw to new
positions. Because Bryant could not be accounted for by his unit after the
attack, he was reported missing action as of Feb. 6, 1951, near Yanghyon-ni,
South Korea.
Throughout the war, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF)
and Korean People’s Army (KPA) provided lists of American servicemen held in
their custody. Bryant’s name appeared on a list of Americans who died while in
custody of communist forces, informally known as the “Christmas List.” However,
there was no way to confirm this report and Bryant’s status remained listed as
missing in action.
Following the war, a returning prisoner from Bryant’s regiment
reported that friends told him Bryant died while being
marched north to prisoner of war Camp 1, located along the Yalu River, near the
village of Changsong. Based on this information, the U.S. Army amended his
status to deceased.
From August to November 1954, the United Nations, Chinese
Communist Forces (CCF) and North Korea exchanged war dead at Munsan-ni, South
Korea. On Sept. 7, 1954, a set of remains reportedly recovered from a prisoner
of war cemetery at Camp 1 and 3, Changsong, North Korea, were sent to the
Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, for attempted identification. The
set of remains was designated “X-14155” and was transferred to the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and
interred as a Korean War Unknown.
After a thorough historical and scientific analysis, it was
determined that X-14155 could likely be identified. After receiving approval,
X-14155 was disinterred on Jan. 9, 2017, and sent to the DPAA laboratory for
analysis.
To identify Bryant’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which
matched his family, as well as dental, anthropological and chest radiograph
comparison analysis, which matched his records, and circumstantial evidence.
Army Lt. Col. Robert G. Nopp, 32, Marion
County, OR was missing from the Vietnam War, has now been accounted
for.
On July 13, 1966 Nopp was assigned to the 131st Aviation Company,
serving as a pilot aboard an OV-1C aircraft, on a night surveillance mission
from Phu Bai Airfield over Attapu Province, Laos People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.).
Visibility was poor due to heavy thunderstorms. Radar and radio contact were
lost with the aircraft, which was not uncommon due to the mountainous terrain in
that part of Laos. When the aircraft did not return as scheduled, search efforts
were initiated, but no crash site was found.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
DPAA is grateful to the government of Laos for their assistance
in accounting for Nopp.
Nopp’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others
unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name
to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Electrician's Mate 3rd Class George
H. Gibson, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War
II, has now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Gibson was assigned to the 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 Gibson.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Gibson's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. Lamar E. Newman, 19, of
Griffin, Georgia, will be buried March 2 in his hometown. In November
1950, Newman was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment,
2nd Infantry Division, taking part in a defensive operation in the vicinity of
the village of Kujang, North Korea. The Division suffered heavy losses, with
many Soldiers going missing or being killed or captured. Newman went missing
near the village of Kujang as a result of heavy fighting on Nov. 27, 1950.
Throughout the remainder of the war, no lists provided by the
Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) or Korean People’s Army (KPA) listed
Newman as a prisoner of war. Additionally, no returning prisoners of war had any
information regarding Newman’s status. Following the war, during Operation
Glory, the CPVF and KPA returned the remains of more than 2,900 Americans,
however no remains were associated with Newman and the U.S. Army declared him
non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
In October 2000, possible human remains from a site south of
Unsan were recovered by a U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory (a
predecessor to DPAA)/KPA Recovery Team. The remains were determined to have been
found in a secondary burial site and were subsequently accessioned into the
Central Identification Laboratory (now the DPAA laboratory) in Hawaii for
identification.
To identify Newman’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), Y-chromosome (Y-STR)
and autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as
anthropological analysis, which matched his records, and material evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Arnold J.
Harrison, 19, of Detroit, Michigan, will be buried March 2, in
Dallas, Texas. In November 1943, Harrison was assigned to Company B, 1st
Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed against stiff
Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the
Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of
intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed
and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated.
Harrison died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20,
1943.
The battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military
because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from
which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their
Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S.
service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield
cemeteries on the island. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company
conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but
Harrison’s remains were not identified. All of the remains found on Tarawa were
sent to the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory for
identification in 1947. By 1949, the remains that had not been identified were
interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the
Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
On Jan. 30, 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-166 from the
Punchbowl and submitted the remains for analysis.
To identify Harrison’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his
records, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Soldier
Army Staff Sgt. Leo J. Husak, 21,
Mclennan County, Texas was killed during World War II, has now been
accounted for.
In January 1945, Husak was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion,
309th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division, serving in the European
theater. Husak was killed during a combat patrol on Jan. 30, 1945 in Germany’s
Hürtgen Forest. The offensive in the forest was one of the longest battles the
United States fought during World War II, lasting for nearly five months.
DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission for
their partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Husak’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing, the
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site
in Hombourg, Belgium. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Army Cpl. Leonard V. Purkapile,
Grant, Wi,
was killed
during the Korean War, has now been accounted for.
In late November 1950, Purkapile was a member of Company E, 2nd
Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, engaged in combat
operations against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in the vicinity
of Unsan, while withdrawing southeast to Yongbyon, North Korea. Following the
battle, Purkapile could not be accounted for and he was reported as missing in
action on Nov. 28, 1950. By the end of the war, his status was changed to
deceased and his remains deemed non-recoverable.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Purkapile's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Harvel L. Moore,
killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
In November 1943, Moore was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion,
8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed
against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa
Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several
days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were
killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually
annihilated. Moore died on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22, 1943.
DPAA is grateful to History Flight, Inc., for their partnership
in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more information will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Moore's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others
missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has
been accounted for.
Navy Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Lorentz E. Hultgren,
Tacoma, WA
killed
during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Hultgren was assigned to the 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 Hultgren.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Hultgren's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Joe Lukie,
killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
In November 1943, Lukie was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion,
2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed against stiff Japanese
resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert
Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense
fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more
than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Lukie died
on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more information will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Lukie's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others
missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has
been accounted for.
Navy Gunner's Mate 2nd Class William F.
Hellstern,
21,
Peoria County Illinois, killed
during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Hellstern was assigned to the 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 Hellstern.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Hellstern's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Henry G. Tipton,
Clark Ridge, Ark.
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has
now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Tipton was assigned to the 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 Tipton.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Tipton's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Machinist's Mate 1st Class Arthur
Glenn, 43, Lonaconing, Maryland. killed during the attack on
the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Glenn was assigned to the 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 Glenn.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Glenn's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Army Pfc. David Baker,
captured during the Korean War, has now been accounted for.
In late November 1950, Baker was a member of Company I, 3rd
Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, positioned in the
vicinity of Yongbyong, North Korea. Baker’s battalion moved north and lost
contact with two other regiments. On Nov. 25, 1950, 3rd BN met with enemy
resistance and was attacked by Chinese People’s Volunteer Force. The battalion
suffered heavy casualties and Baker was declared missing in action as of Nov.
28, 1950, when he could not be accounted for by his unit. Later reports indicate
that Baker was likely captured by the enemy during battle.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Baker’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Molder 1st Class Kenneth B. Armstrong,
National City,
California,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Armstrong was assigned to the 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 Armstrong.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Armstrong's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently identified after being captured and
killed during the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with
full military honors.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Alfred G. Bensinger,
Jr., of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, will be buried February 16 in the
Fort Sill National Cemetery, Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In late November 1950,
Bensinger was a member of Company D, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion (2nd ECB) 2nd
Infantry Division, when his unit was fighting persistent Chinese attacks in the
Ch’ongch’on River area in northwestern North Korea. The battle began on the
evening of Nov. 25, 1950, when the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces initiated
their Second Phase offensive along the entire 8th Army front. Bensinger’s
battalion was heavily engaged in the battle. When withdrawal orders were issued
on November 29, the 2nd ECB provided security for the Division.
The following day, the battalion was ordered to withdraw from the vicinity of
Kunu-ri, when it was again engaged by enemy forces down the Main Supply Route.
During this withdrawal, Bensinger was captured.
Several returning American POWs reported that
Bensinger died at the prisoner of war transient camp known as the Hofong Camp, a
sub-camp of the Pukchin-Tarigol Main Camp Cluster in mid-January 1951.
In April 2005, a DPAA/Korean People’s Army Recovery Team
recovered remains from a site south of Unsan. The remains included 32 different
individuals, and appeared to have originated from a previous burial site. The
remains were then sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Bensinger’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the
Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR)
DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as anthropological analysis,
which matched his records and circumstantial evidence.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted for from World War II are
being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Navy Fireman 1st Class Charles R. Ogle,
20, of Mountain View, Missouri, will be buried February 12 in
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri. On Dec. 7, 1941, Ogle
was assigned to the 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 Ogle.
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.
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
identifications 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 Ogle.
In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy
memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS
Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the
NMCP for analysis.
To identify Ogle’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR)
DNA analysis, which matched family, as well as circumstantial evidence and
laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons and anthropological analysis.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Leon Arickx,
23, Mitchell, IA
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has
now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Arickx was assigned to the 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 Arickx.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Arickx's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for
Navy Seaman 1st Class Eugene W. Wicker, 20
Navy Seaman 1st Class Eugene W. Wicker,
20, Oklahoma, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World
War II, has now been accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Wicker was assigned to the 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 Wicker.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Wicker's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Fireman 1st Class Leonard R. Geller, 20,
Glenrose, Noble, Oklahoma
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Geller was assigned to the 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 Geller.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Geller's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Marine Corps Pfc. Jack H. Krieger, 27,
from Missouri,
killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
In November 1943, Krieger was assigned to Company A, 1st
Battalion, 18th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force which
landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the
Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over
several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and
Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were
virtually annihilated.
Krieger died on the first day of the battle, Nov.
20, 1943.
DPAA is grateful to History Flight, Inc., and the Department of
Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more information will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Krieger's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others
missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has
been accounted for.
Tulsamerican Airman
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Eugene P. Ford,
Pennsylvania,
killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
On Dec. 17, 1944, Ford was the a member of the 765th Bombardment
Squadron, 461st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, as the pilot of a B-24J
aircraft known as The Tulsamerican. Accompanied by a crew of nine service
members, the Tulsamerican was the lead aircraft in a group of six B-24s from the
squadron to participate in a combat bombing mission targeting oil refineries at
Odertal, Germany. Coming out of a cloud bank near the target, the aircraft were
attacked by more than 40 German Me-109 and FW-190 fighters. The unit suffered
heavy losses with three of their six aircraft shot down and the other three
damaged. The Tulsamerican sustained heavy damage, forcing Ford to abort the
mission and crash land in the Adriatic Sea, near the Isle of Vis, in present-day
Croatia. Seven crewmembers of the aircraft survived and were rescued, however
three, including Ford, were killed in the crash, and their bodies were unable to
be recovered.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
DPAA is grateful to the divers who discovered the crash site, the
Croatian Government, the Croatian Conservation Institute, Lund University, Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institute, the National Park Service and the Croatian Navy
for their partnership in this mission.
Ford's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Florence American Cemetery in Italy, an American Battle Monuments Commission
site.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted for from the Korean War,
are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. Ollie E. Shepard, 22, of Hugo,
Oklahoma, will be buried February 7 in the Bradley, Oklahoma. In late
November, 1950, Shepard was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry
Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Approximately 2,500 U.S. and 700 South Korean
soldiers assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which was
deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was attacked by
overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. The American forces withdrew south with
the Chinese attacks continuing. By December 6, the U.S. Army evacuated
approximately 1,500 wounded service members; the remaining soldiers had been
either captured, killed or missing in enemy territory. Because Shepard could not
be accounted for by his unit at the end of the battle, he was reported missing
in action as of Dec. 3, 1950.
Shepard’s name did not appear on any prisoner of war lists and no
repatriated Americans reported Shepard as a prisoner of war. Due to the
prolonged lack of evidence, the U.S. Army declared him deceased on Dec. 31,
1953.
In September 2004, a joint U.S. and Korean People’s Army (KPA)
recovery team conducted a Joint Recovery Operation at a burial site in the
vicinity of Twikkae Village, Changjin District, South Hamgyong Province, North
Korea, on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir. The site is consistent with the
31st RCT’s location during their withdrawal. Material evidence and human remains
were recovered and sent to DPAA for analysis.
To identify Shepard’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which
matched his family, anthropological analysis, which matched his records, and
material evidence
Navy Seaman 1st Class Donald G. Keller,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Keller was assigned to the 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 Keller.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Keller's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
announced today that the remains of a serviceman, recently accounted-for from
the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military
honors.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Richard G. Cushman,
18, of Springville, Utah, will be buried February 3, in Cypress,
California. In late November 1950, Cushman was assigned to Company A, 72nd
Medium tank Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, on the western side of the Korean
Peninsula, when the Division encountered waves of attacks by the Chinese
People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF.) The attack caused the Division to withdraw to
the village of Kunu-ri. While in the village, a task force comprised of
Cushman’s company and an infantry platoon were ordered to destroy a roadblock
and eliminate enemy troops. The CPVF overwhelmingly attacked the unit and by the
end of battle, Cushman could not be accounted for. He was reported missing in
action as of Dec. 5, 1950.
Following the war, no lists provided by the CPVF or Korean
People’s Army (KPA) listed Cushman as a prisoner of war,
however two returning American prisoners reported that Cushman had died while
being held by the CPVF. Based on this information, the U.S. Army declared
him deceased as of March 31, 1951.
In July and August 2002, a joint U.S. and KPA recovery team
conducted a Joint Recovery Operation at a site, designated KN-0874, in Ung Bong
Village, North Korea. Based on information provided by Korean witnesses, Mr. Man
Hyon Ho, and Mr. Anh Il Chang, the site was excavated and possible human remains
were recovered, along with personal effects and material evidence, all of which
was sent to the DPAA laboratory for processing.
To identify Cushman’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, which
matched his family, as well as anthropological analysis and circumstantial
evidence, which matched his records.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that
a U.S. serviceman, missing from World War II, has been identified and is being
returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. Lloyd J. Lobdell, 23, of
Elkhorn, Wisconsin, will be buried February 2, in the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. On Dec. 8, 1941, Lobdell was a
member of Company A, 192nd Tank Battalion, in the Far East, when Japanese forces
invaded the Philippine Islands. Intense fighting continued until May 6. 1942,
when American forces on Corregidor Island surrendered.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members
were taken prisoner; including many who were forced to endure the Bataan Death
March, en route to Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camps, including the POW camp
at Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines. Lobdell was among those
reported captured after the surrender of Corregidor and who were eventually
moved to the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp
during the remaining years of the war.
Lobdell was admitted to the Cabanatuan Prison Camp Hospital
suffering from illness. He died Nov. 19, 1942, and was
buried along with fellow prisoners in the local Cabanatuan camp cemetery.
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 cemetery near Manila. In late 1947, the
AGRS again exhumed the remains at the Manila cemetery in an attempt to identify
them. Due to the circumstances of the POW deaths and burials, the extensive
commingling, and the limited identification technologies of the time, all of the
remains could not be individually identified. The unidentified remains were
reburied as unknowns in the American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery at
Fort McKinley in Manila, Philippines.
In 2014, the Secretary of the Army granted permission to exhume
ten graves associated with the Cabanatuan Common Grave 717. On August 28, 2014,
the remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Lobdell’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which
matched his family, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis,
to include dental comparisons and anthropological analysis, which matched his
records.
Army Pfc. Lamar E. Newman,
missing from the Korean War, has now been accounted for.
In November 1950, Newman was a member of Company B, 1st
Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, taking part in a
defensive
operation in the vicinity of the village of Kujang, North Korea.
The Division suffered heavy losses, with many Soldiers going missing or being
killed or captured. Newman went missing near the village of Kujang as a
result of heavy fighting on Nov. 27, 1950.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Newman's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others
unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Pete W. Simon,
killed during the Korean War, has now been accounted for.
In September 1950, Simon was a member of Company G, 2nd
Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, participating in a
defense of the Pusan Perimeter, a large defensive line west and north of Pusan,
South Korea. Simon was reported to have been killed in action Sept. 5, 1950, but
his remains were not located following the battle.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
DPAA is grateful to the South Korean government and the
Department of Veterans Affairs for their assistance in this recovery.
Simon’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an
American Battle Monuments Commission site along with the others who are missing
from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Airman
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John H. Canty, 23,
Winsted, Connecticut,
killed
during World War II, has now been accounted for.
On June 22, 1944, Canty was a member of the 555th Bombardment
Squadron, 386th Bombardment Group, IX Bomber Command, aboard a B-26 Maurader on
a nighttime bombing mission from Easton Lodge-Essex, England, against targets
near Caen, France. His B-26 was shot down between the villages of Baron-sur-Odon
and Gavrus, France. All eight crewmembers were killed in the incident. Because
the location of the crash was in German-held territory, U.S. forces were unable
to make a detailed search for the crew at the time of their loss.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
DPAA is grateful to the French Government, Mr. Michael Jurd and
the American Battle Monuments Commission for their assistance in this recovery.
Canty’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site. A
rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Fireman 2nd Class Lowell E. Valley,
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Valley was assigned to the 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 Valley.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is appreciative to the Department of Veterans Affairs for
their partnership in this mission.
Though the men lost on the ship were all in the Navy or the Marines, the Department of Veterans Affairs has authority over the Punchbowl.
“It was one heck of a job to get them to bring them up,” said Bob Valley, 83, whose brother, Fireman 2nd Class Lowell Earl Valley, died on the Oklahoma. “We were fighting everybody — the Navy, the Army, the VA.”
Valley spent years
pushing officials to bring up just a few caskets he thought contained remains
that could be identified easily, even though he didn’t think his brother was in
one of them. The sailor had been in the ship’s engine room, which took the brunt
of the attack.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Valley's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Fireman 3rd Class Warren H. Crim, 20,
Bristol, TN.
killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Crim was assigned to the 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 Crim.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
DPAA is appreciative to the Department of Veterans Affairs for
their partnership in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Crim's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette
will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Air Force Col. Edgar F. Davis, 43,
Goldsboro, North Carolina,
killed
during the Vietnam War, has now been accounted for.
On Sept. 17, 1968, Davis was a navigator aboard a RF-4C Phantom
fighter-bomber aircraft, assigned to the 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron,
432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing. Davis and his pilot were on a night
photo-reconnaissance mission over the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.)
when they were shot down by anti-aircraft artillery fire. The pilot ejected out
of the aircraft and was rescued, however no contact could be established with
Davis. Because of this, he was declared missing in action. Search and rescue
efforts were suspended after failing to locate Davis or the aircraft wreckage.
Davis was later declared deceased.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
DPAA is grateful to Stony Beach and the government of Laos for
their partnerships in this recovery.
Davis' name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others
unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name
to indicate he has been accounted for.