“HONOR THE DEAD BY HELPING THE LIVING”
Vietnam War POWs Gather,
Remember at Nixon Library Reunion
POW Mike McGrath
demonstrated how prisoners tapped on the wall to communicate
as he stands in a replica of cells at the Hanoi Hilton camp while touring the
CAPTURED:
Shot Down in Vietnam exhibit at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library as they
celebrate
the 50th anniversary of the return of the Vietnam POWs in Yorba Linda, CA,
Today, the DPAA is focused on the research, investigation,
recovery, and identification
of the approximately 34,000 (out of approximately 83,000 missing DoD personnel)
believed to be recoverable, who were lost in conflicts
from World War II to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Congressional funding gap slows hunt for remains
of Vietnam War dead.
By WYATT
OLSON
STARS AND
STRIPES February
28, 2024
About
81,000 Americans are still missing from World War II, the Korean War, the
Vietnam War,
the Cold War and Gulf Wars, according to DPAA. Almost 90% of those are from
World War II.
About 41,000 are presumed lost at sea, making the recovery of many of them unlikely, if not impossible.
The 1,577 service members still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, however, are the toughest cases, Byrd said.
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Joshua Alexander, left, and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class
Joshua Weber,
of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, take part in an excavation in Quang
Binh Province, Vietnam, Feb. 26, 2023.
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Joshua Alexander, left, and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class
Joshua Weber, of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency,
take part in an excavation in Quang Binh Province, Vietnam, Feb. 26, 2023.
More than 2,700 prisoners were buried on the site, some of whom were identified
and reburied by the U.S. soon after the war.
U.S. service members assigned to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency carry out
a disinterment ceremony
at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, Jan. 29,
2023.
“Time is our enemy,” he said. “The footprints of battlefields have been
destroyed by progress.
The acidic soil is eating away at the remains.
Many of the veterans are passing on, along with their memories of the
battlefield.”
KHAMMOUANE, Laos --
With
1,586 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,
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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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.
FINDING ENSIGN HAROLD P. DeMOSS IN THE MUCK AND MIRE
“Seeing
those photos was so overwhelming that I cried like a baby”
said DeMoss’ niece, Judy Ivey. “To see this actually taking place
is not anything I ever really expected.”
Anine-person military team
has been digging up mud four days a week
in the Koolau range in search of a missing World War II pilot whose
fighter crashed in cloud cover during a night training flight.
A bucket-and-pulley system
was set up to move excavated
material to a spot where it can be bundled in tarps for
helicopter transport to Wheeler Army Airfield.
NOTE: The Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery said in a 1948 letter
to the family that “an attempt to recover the remains was
considered impracticable” because the site was 7 miles
from a traveled highway in the mountains.
On Feb. 25, 1944, Duran wasn’t supposed to be on the doomed B-24H
Liberator, nicknamed “Knock it Off.”
Normally a nose turret gunner, Duran was the substitute tail turret gunner on
the flight, replacing the usual tail gunner who had frostbite.
The earth by the headstone next to the church in this tiny mountain village was full of rocks.
Two days of digging under a hot sun had yielded buckets of
gravel, stones the size of men’s fists and many piles of dirt – but no bones.
After 73 years, Sgt. Alfonso O. Duran was still missing.
The family feels a sense of closure regardless of the outcome,
Duran said.
“What a difference it would have made to my father and to my aunt,”
she said, “to know he had died and somebody had buried him and tended the
grave.”
Members of
the recovery team attach a POW flag to the wreckage of the
Tulsamerican, a B-24 Liberator piloted by, Lt. Eugene P. Ford, a Derry Township,
Pa. native,
when it crashed into the Adriatic Sea in 1944.
FIELD OPERATIONS IN LAOS AND CAMBODIA
US Ambassador to
Cambodia Patrick Murphy,
prepares to screen dirt during a DPAA recovery mission in Ratanakiri Province,
Cambodia, February 1, 2020.
Mr. Alexander
Garcia-Putnam, right, a senior recovery expert assigned to DPAA,
speaks to US service members and Lao officials during a joint field activity
(JFA) in Khammouan Province, Laos, February 2, 2020
SG Carter Caraker,
USA, a DPAA supply non-commissioned officer,
passes buckets to local workers during a JFA in Khammouan Province, Laos,
February 10, 2020.
During the JFA, a group of more than 70 personnel, assigned to DPAA and
augmented from military units around the globe,
worked together to help fulfill our nation's promise to provide the fullest
possible accounting of our missing personnel.
Recoveries
Underwater Recovery Mission - Vietnam:
U.S. Coast Guard underwater recovery mission in
Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, May 27 2021.
Vietnam Recovery Mission:
U.S. Army DPAA recovery team member, swings a pick axe to loosen dirt during
a recovery mission in Quang Binh province, Vietnam, July 3, 2021.
Vietnam Repatriation Ceremony:
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Detachment 2 and the Vietnam Office for
Seeking
Missing Persons (VNOSMP) held the 155th Repatriation
Ceremony on 9 July 2021 at Gia Lam Airport outside Hanoi, Vietnam.
Repatriation Ceremony – Laos:
Detachment Three-Laos, pause for a photo during the signing of remains turnover
documents
at a Repatriation Ceremony June 22, 2021 in Vientiane, Laos.
Honorable Carry from Laos:
DPAA members conducted an Honorable Carry ceremony on Joint Base Pearl Harbor
Hickam, June 23, 2021.
The remains were recently repatriated to the U.S. during a ceremony in
Vientiane, Laos.
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.
A number of other boats were sunk in the attack, but later
recovered and repaired.
The USS California (BB-44)
lost 100 crew members that morning, after the ship suffered extensive flooding
damage when hit by two torpedoes on the port side.
Both torpedoes detonated below the armor belt causing virtually identical damage
each time.
A 250 kg bomb also entered the starboard upper deck level, which passed through
the main deck and exploded on the armored second deck,
setting off an anti-aircraft ammunition magazine and killing about 50 men.
After three days of flooding, the California settled
into the mud with only her superstructure remaining above the surface.
She was later re-floated and dry-docked at Pearl Harbor for repairs. USS California served
many missions throughout the war,
and was eventually decommissioned in February, 1947.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese bombs fell and
torpedoes slashed through the waters of Pearl Harbor,
causing a devastating amount of damage to the vessels lined up in Battleship Row
in in the dry docks nearby.
Each of the seven battleships moored there suffered some degree of damage, some
far worse than others.
The USS Arizona (BB-39)
and the USS Oklahoma (BB-37)
were completely destroyed. Though the Maryland (BB-46)
was believed by Japan to also have been sunk, she ultimately survived and became
one of the first ships to return to the war.
During the attack on Pearl Harbor, ships like the USS Cassin (DD-372),
a Mahan-class
destroyer, suffered what was originally thought to be fatal damage.
While she was extensively damaged during the attack, she was resurrected and
went on to return to service during the remainder of World War II.
The sunken battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48) at Pearl Harbor after her fires
were out, possibly on 8 December 1941.
USS Tennessee (BB-43) is inboard. A Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane (marked
“4-O-3”) is upside down on West Virginia’s main deck.
A second OS2U is partially burned out atop the Turret No. 3 catapult.
In the aftermath of the attacks on Pearl Harbor during World War Two stories emerged of sailors who were trapped in the sunken battleships, some even survived for weeks.
Those who were trapped underwater banged continuously on the side of the ship so
that anyone would hear them and come to their rescue.
When the noises were first heard many thought it was just loose wreckage or part
of the clean-up operation for the destroyed harbor.
However the day after the attack, crewmen realized that there was an eerie banging noise coming from the forward hull of the USS West Virginia, which had sunk in the harbor.
t didn’t take long for the crew and Marines based at the harbor to realize that
there was nothing they could do. They could not get to these trapped sailors in
time.
Months later rescue and salvage men who raised the USS West Virginia found the
bodies of three men who had found an airlock in a storeroom but had eventually
run out of air.
Survivors say that no one wanted to go on guard duty anywhere near the USS West
Virginia since they would hear the banging of trapped survivors all night long,
but with nothing that could be done.
When salvage crews raised the battleship West Virginia six months after the
Pearl Harbor attacks,
they found the bodies of three sailors huddled in an airtight storeroom —
and a calendar on which 16 days had been crossed off in
red pencil.
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.
The minelayer Oglala technically
didn't suffer a hit on December 7, but a torpedo passed under it and hit the USS
Helena.
The blast from that crippled the old Oglala which
had been built as a civilian vessel in 1906.
The crewmembers took their guns to the Navy Yard Dock and set them up to provide
more defenses.
They also set up a first aid station that saved the lives of West Virginia
crewmembers.
The ship suffered horribly, eventually capsizing and sinking
until just a few feet of the ship's starboard side remained above water.
It was declared lost, and the Navy even considered blowing it up with dynamite
to clear the dock it had sunk next to.
But the decision was made that it could destroy the dock, so the Navy had to
refloat it. At that point, it made sense to dry dock and repair it.
None of the crew of Oglala were killed in the attack, although three received injuries.
Sean Patterson, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System Department
of Defense DNA Quality Management Section DNA Analyst,
replaces U. S. Navy Fireman 1st Class Billy James Johnson's picture background,
signifying him as an identified service member who was previously missing in
action.
Johnson marks the 200th service member to be identified following the December
7, 1941 Pearl Harbor
attack where 429 U.S. Sailors and Marines were killed on the USS Oklahoma
(BB-37).
A
series of large posters hang in the conference room of the Defense POW/MIA
Accounting Agency laboratory located at Offutt Air Base, Nebraska.
The heading on each of the posters states “USS OKLAHOMA.” Underneath the
headings are neat rows of printed rectangular frames.
Each one represents a person who was unaccounted for when the USS Oklahoma was
sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Thanks
to the work of Dr. Brown’s team, the remains of 200 previously unknown crewmen
from the USS Oklahoma
have now been returned to their families for proper burial and their families
have those long-awaited answers.
The story of the USS Oklahoma’s lost crewmen is
an evolving history lesson that began on what
President Franklin D. Roosevelt called
“a date that will live in infamy.”
LIST OF USS OKLAHOMA IDENTIFICATIONS FROM MICHIGAN:
(Please note that in some USS Oklahoma identifications,
the primary next of kin has yet to be notified,
and therefore the names will not be released at this time.)
Seaman Second Class Warren P. Hickok of Kalamazoo, Mich.
Staff Sgt. Joseph M. King, of Detroit, Mich.
Fireman Third Class Gerald G. Lehman, of Hancock, Mich.
Machinist Mate First Class Fred M. Jones, 30 of Port Huron, Michigan
Navy Fireman 2nd Class Lowell E. Valley, 19, of Ontonagon, Michigan,
Navy Seaman 1st Class Robert W. Headington, 19, Bay City, Michigan
Navy Seaman 2nd Class John C. Auld, 23, Grosse Park, Michigan,
Navy Ensign William M. Finnegan, 44, of Bessemer, Michigan,
Navy Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Fred M. Jones, 31, of Otter Lake, Michigan,
Navy Seaman 1st Class Robert W. Headington, 19, of Bay City, Michigan,
Navy Seaman 1st Class Edward Wasielewski, Plymouth, MI
U.S. Naval Reserve Ensign Frances
C. Flaherty, 22, of
Navy Seaman 1st Class Joe R. Nightingale, 20, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Navy Seaman 1st Class Edward Wasielewski, 21, of Detroit,
U.S. Naval Reserve Ensign Francis C. Flaherty, 22, of Charlotte, Michigan,
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Raymond D. Boynton, 19, Grand Rapids, MI
Navy Seaman 1st Class Wilbur F. Ballance, 20, Paw Paw, Michigan
It is through this effort that the accounting community
has been able to honor the sacrifices of the USS Oklahoma Sailors and Marines
and their families who pushed for the fullest possible accounting of their loved
ones.
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.
The USS
Oklahoma, moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, was sunk by
Japanese aircraft during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
A total of 429 crewmen aboard the USS Oklahoma were killed in the early morning hours of Dec.
7, 1941,
after the ship quickly capsized from the numerous torpedo hits.
Breakdown by War - Still Unaccounted for/Unreturned Veterans:
WW I 4,422
WW II 71,970
Korea 7,438
Vietnam 1,573
Cold War 126
Gulf/Other 6
Total 85,535
*As of June 2025
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
WWII
from MICHIGAN - 2437
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Korea
from MICHIGAN - 328
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Cold War
from MICHIGAN - 4
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Viet Nam
from MICHIGAN - 48
RECENTLY
FOUND
HEROES in 2025
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Sidney Burke, 22, Lake County, Indiana killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
In the summer of 1943, Burke was a member of 22nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st Bombardment Group (Medium), 10th Air Force during World War II.
On Aug. 3, while serving as the Armor-Gunner of a B-25C “Mitchell” bomber on a low-altitude bombing raid in Meiktila, Burma, his aircraft crashed.
Of the six individuals aboard the aircraft, two survived and were captured by Japanese forces, while the remaining four, including Burke, were killed.
His remains were not recovered after the war, and he was declared missing in action.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Henry J. Carlin, 27, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Carlin was a member of 22nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st Bombardment Group (Medium), 10th Air Force during World War II.
On Aug. 3, while serving as the navigator of a B-25C “Mitchell” bomber on a low-altitude bombing raid in Meiktila, Burma, his aircraft crashed.
Of the six individuals aboard the aircraft, two survived and were captured by Japanese forces, while the remaining four, including Carlin, were killed.
His remains were not recovered after the war, and he was declared missing in action
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Charles W. McCook, 23, Georgetown, Texas killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, McCook was a member of 22nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st Bombardment Group (Medium), 10th Air Force during World War II.
On Aug. 3, while serving as the Pilot of a B-25C “Mitchell” bomber on a low-altitude bombing raid in Meiktila, Burma, his aircraft crashed.
Of the six individuals aboard the aircraft, two survived and were captured by Japanese forces, while the remaining four, including McCook, were killed.
His remains were not recovered after the war, and he was declared missing in action.
Charles Woodruff McCook is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class (S1c) Paul E. Newton, 20, Chicago Ill, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Newton was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Newton.
U.S. Army Pfc. George Armand Curley Jr.,
18, of
Laconia, New Hampshire,
Curley's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In December 1950, Curley was assigned to Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. Curley was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, in the vicinity of Sonchu, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Based on information from returning POWs, it was determined that Curley died in captivity at Camp 5 near Pyoktong, DPRK in March 1951.
September and October 1954 during Operation GLORY, the United Nations Command and the Chinese Communist Forces exchanged the remains of fallen service personnel. After those remains were processed by the Central Identification Unit (CIU) Laboratory at Kokura, Japan, the CIU was unable to positively associate any loss with Curley.
In 1956, all unidentified remains, including one designated as Unknown X-14692, were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the Punchbowl) in Honolulu, Hawaii and interred there as Unknowns.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On Nov. 18, 2019, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-14692 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Curley’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Curley will be buried in Laconia, New Hampshire in June 2025.
U.S. Army Sgt. Orace J. Mestas, 22, of Trinidad, Colorado, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Mestas's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In April 1951, Mestas was assigned to I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action near Chip’o-ri, North Korea, after his unit’s position was attacked on April 25.
The U.S. Army determined him to be nonrecoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.In April 1951, members from the 565th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company recovered remains about 8.5 miles southeast of Chipo-ri and designated one set as Unknown X-1381 Tanggok. In 1955 those remains were transferred to the Central Identification Unit (CIU) in Kokura, Japan for reprocessing.
After the remains were reexamined by the CIU, Unknown X-1381 could not be identified. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns interred at the Punchbowl. In March 2019, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-1381 as part of Phase One of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Mestas’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Mestas will be buried in Trinidad, Colorado, in June 2025.
U.S. Army Pvt. Willard D. Merrill, 21, of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Merrill's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1941, Merrill was a member of the 2nd Observation Squadron when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Merrill was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Merrill died Nov. 14, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 305.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila.
In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three sets of remains from Common Grave 305 were declared unidentifiable. These unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In January 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 305 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Merrill’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Merrill is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Merrill will be buried in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, in June 2025.
Army Cpl. Albert J. Estrada, 17, Yolo County, California killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Estrada was a member of Battery B, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action Dec. 6, 1950, in the vicinity of Hagaru-ri near the Jangjin (Chosin) Reservoir, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The U.S. Army did not receive any information to indicate that he was ever held as a Prisoner of War and on Dec. 31, 1953, issued a presumptive finding of death.
He was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
Albert J Estrada is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
Albert is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Byron R. Michener, 23, Jackson County, Missouri killed during World War II was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Michener served as a bombardier with the 409th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force.
On Aug. 1, the B-24 Liberator aircraft Michener was on crashed after encountering enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries in Ploiesti, Romania.
They were hit by flak and critically damaged, however it was reported they released their bombs on target. Their aircraft was on fire, spun down, hitting a rooftop before smashing into the Ploesti women's jail.
His remains were not identified following the war
Byron Russell Michener is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Robert P. Aikman, 40,
In January 1945, Aikman was assigned to Battery D, 1st Battalion, 59th Coastal Artillery Corps.
He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1942 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru.
Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay.
After a series of land and naval transfers, Aikman was transported to Takao, Formosa, aboard the Enoura Maru.
The Japanese government reported that Aikman died on January 9, 1945, when U.S. forces sank the Enoura Maru.
He was declared non-recoverable on March 22, 1949
U.S. Army Master Sgt. George C. Manring, 21, Wales, Florida killed in action during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In September 1950, Manring was assigned to Battery B, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950, in the vicinity of Hagaru-ri near the Chosin Reservoir, Republic of Korea.
The U.S. Army did not receive any indication that he was ever held as a prisoner of war and with no evidence of his continued survival, issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953
Master Sergeant Manring is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC
U.S. Army Sgt. Ivor D. Thornton, 34, of Martinsville, Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On June 6, 1944, "D-Day," Sgt. Thornton landed on Omaha Beach with Company H, 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regimental Combat Team, 29th Infantry Division. As part of the second wave of the invasion, Company H disembarked its landing craft around 7:00 a.m.
Fellow soldiers last observed Sgt. Thornton wading ashore, but he was not seen thereafter.
On June 7, 1944, the day after the invasion, Thornton’s unit unsuccessfully searched for him. Consequently, the War Department listed him as missing in action. On June 8, 1944, graves registration personnel recovered a set of remains from Omaha Beach that they were unable to identify. They interred these remains in U.S. Military Cemetery (USMC) Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, adjacent to Omaha Beach, and designated them X-159 St. Laurent (X-159).
Graves registration personnel attempted to identify X-159 in March 1945, but they could not associate the body with a specific casualty. In June 1947, analysts with the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) were also unable to identify X-159. On March 3, 1949, a board of AGRC officers recommended the remains be declared unidentifiable.
In April 2022, Thornton's family, along with the family of another missing Soldier, requested X-159 be disinterred and compared to Thornton and the other Soldier.
In September 2023, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed the remains of X-159 and transferred them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Thornton’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Thornton will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on a date yet to be determined
U.S. Navy Fireman 1st Class Edward D. Bowden, 29, Craven County, North Carolina killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Bowden was assigned to the battleship USS California, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS California sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it catch fire and slowly flood.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 103 crewmen, including Bowden
Edward Daniel Bowden is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
U.S. Army Pvt. Harland J. Hennessey, 24, of Boonville, New York, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Hennessey's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.In late 1941, Hennessey was a member of the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Hennessey was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Hennessey died Nov. 1, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 704.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Two of the sets of remains from Common Grave 704 were identified, while the remaining eight were declared unidentifiable.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
Today, Hennessey is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hennessey will be buried in Boonville, New York, in July 2025.
U.S. Army Pvt. Henry D. Bordner, 24, Silver Bow County, Montana who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Bordner was a member of the 194th Tank Battalion in the Philippines, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Bordner was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Bordner died Oct. 20, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 701
Henry D Bordner is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Leslie H. Solomon, 29, Shelby County Memphis, Tennessee killed in action during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Sergeant Solomon joined the Army at the age of 16 and served in Germany.
In December 1950, Solomon was assigned to Headquarters and Battery D, 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Automatic Weapons Battalion, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2 when his convoy was ambushed by enemy forces while in route to the vicinity of Hagaru-ri near the Jangjin (Chosin) Reservoir, Republic of Korea.
The U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953, and on Jan. 6, 1956, he was declared non-recoverable
Sergeant First Class Solomon is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. Truman G. Causey, 33, Livingston Parish, Louisiana who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Causey was a member of 17th Bombardment Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Causey was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Causey died Nov. 15, 1942, and he was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 721
Truman G Causey is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Army Pfc. Andrew E. Hathaway, 18, Winnebago County, Illinois killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Hathaway was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.
He was reportedly killed on Nov. 28, after the Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River, Republic of Korea.
Returning POWs reported that Hathaway was held at Camp 5 in Pyoktong, North Korea, where he died on an unknown date
Andrew E Hathaway is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
Andrew is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
U.S. Army Cpl. Delmont Johnston, 21, from Kennebec County, Maine who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1942, Johnston was a member of 16th Bombardment Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group (Light), when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Johnston was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Delmont Johnston is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Army Sgt. Elwyn Dean Nordyke, 22, from
Late November 1950, Sgt. Nordyke was assigned to Medical Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Nov. 28 in the vicinity of the Jangjin (Chosin) Reservoir, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, when his convoy was ambushed by opposing forces.
Sergeant Elwyn Dean Nordyke was held as a Prisoner of War after he was captured on 28 November 1950 during the Korean War.
He was unaccounted for after the war and is presumed to have died or been killed while in captivity.
It was later determined that Sgt. Nordyke was held at Camp 1 in Changsong, North Korea, where he died in captivity in the summer of 1951.
U.S. Army Cpl. Robert Lee Brewster, 19, Cottage Hills, Illinois killed during the Korean War, was accounted-for.
In July 1950, Cpl. Brewster was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on July 8 after a battle in the vicinity of Cheonan, South Korea.
He was not reported as a prisoner of war and subsequent searches of the battle area failed to recover his remains.
With no evidence of his continued survival, the U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death of Dec. 31, 1953
April 7
U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. John H. Newstrom, 20, from Minnesota killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the fall of 1944, Newstrom was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division.
On Sept. 28, Newstrom was killed by sniper fire while attempting to clear a cave near northeastern Peleliu, Republic of Palau.
At the time, other Marines in his unit were unable to recover his remains and postwar recovery efforts were unsuccessful.
Newstrom was declared non-recoverable in 1949
John Henry Newstrom is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
March 28
U.S. Navy Mess Attendant 3rd Class (Matt3c) Neil D. Frye, 20, of Vass, North Carolina, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Frye's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Frye was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Frye. During efforts to salvage the USS West Virginia, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crewmen, which were interred at Halawa Naval Cemetery on Oahu.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) identified 42 individuals from the remains interred at Halawa. Those who could not be identified, including Frye, were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
From June through October 2017, DPAA, in cooperation with cemetery officials, disinterred the 35 Unknowns reported to be associated with the USS West Virginia from the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Frye’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and dental analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Frye’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Frye will be buried in Spring Hills, North Carolina, in April 2025
Airman
March 28
U.S. Army Air Forces Cpl. Bruce H. Penny, 21,
from
In late 1941, Penny was a member of 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Penny was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Penny died on Nov. 22, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 807.
March 28
U.S. Army Cpl. James M. Walker, 46, Pawnee County, Oklahoma who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Walker was a member of 31st Infantry Regiment when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Walker was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Walker died Jan. 1, 1943, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 822
James M Walker is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Marine
March 28
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. John W. Ruark, 21, Rock Island County, Illinois who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Ruark was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Ruark was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Ruark died on Nov. 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 717.
John Wesley Ruark is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Airman
March 27
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Clarence E. Gibbs, 21, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1944, Gibbs was assigned to 368th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 1st Bombardment Division, 8th Air Force.
On December 29, Gibbs, a top turret gunner onboard a B-17G “Flying Fortress” went missing in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Bingen, Germany.
All crewmembers were able to bail out of the aircraft, and only one airman was found dead by German forces near the crash site.
Five men were captured and processed into the German prisoner of war (POW) camp system, ultimately surviving the war.
Gibbs and two other crewmembers were unaccounted for, and there was no record of them being held as POWs.
Clarence E Gibbs is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France.
March 26
U.S. Navy Reserve Ensign Eugene E. Mandeberg, 23, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Ensign Mandeberg grew up in Detroit MI. His father owned a furniture store. Friends described Mandeberg as studious, prone to making humorous comments and a passion to write articles in his school newspaper about current social issues. At the University of Michigan, Mandeberg was hired to write for the Michigan Daily.
In the summer 1945, Mandeberg was a member of the Fighting Squadron 88, USS Yorktown. On August 15, while returning from a mission near Atsugi Airfield, Honshu, Japan, his formation was engaged with enemy fighter planes.
US Navy Hellcat pilots had been radioed that the war was over and they were returning to the Yorktown, dumping munitions as per protocol. However, apparently nobody told the Japanese pilots that the war was over.
Four of the six U.S. aircraft failed to return to the USS Yorktown and Navy officials reported Mandeberg as Missing in Action.
The family declined to accept the remains, because it was not a positive ID. And they did not want someone else's remains buried as their son.
Eugene Esmond Mandeberg is memorialized at Courts of the Missing, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.
March 26
U.S. Navy Reserve S2c Jerome M. Mullaney, 18, Newark, New Jersey. killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the Summer of 1944, Mullaney was assigned to the destroyer USS Glennon, which participated in the invasion of France on June 6, commonly known as “D-Day."
Mullaney was killed two days after the invasion, on June 8, when USS Glennon hit an underwater mine off the coast of France.
The stern of the ship became lodged on the sea floor and after unsuccessful attempts to tow the vessel to safety, USS Glennon was finally sunk after being struck by a German artillery barrage on 10 June.
At that time 25 sailors, including Mullaney, were recorded as missing
U.S. Army 1st Lt. William H. Hott, 29, Cuyahoga County, Ohio killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Hott was a member of D Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action December 1, in the vicinity of Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Witnesses later reported that he was killed in action a fighting withdrawal.
The U.S. Army issued a report of death on Feb. 28, 1951 and declared his remains non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956
William H Hott is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
William is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
Airman
March 26
U.S. Army Air Forces Cpl. Glenn H. Hodak, 23, of Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, died as a POW during World War II, was accounted for.
Hodak's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In March 1945, Hodak was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, when the B-29 “Superfortress” he was a gunner aboard was shot down on a mission to Tokyo, Japan. Initially reported as missing in action, investigators later learned that Hodak was captured and perished in the Tokyo Prison Fire on May 26, 1945. His remains were not immediately recovered or identified after the war.
Following the close of hostilities, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel searched for and disinterred the remains of U.S. servicemen throughout the Pacific Theater.
Based on information from the Japanese government, AGRS personnel anticipated the recovery of 62 sets of remains from the Tokyo Military Prison in early 1946.
Over the following three years AGRS conducted several investigations into the Prison, identifying 25 of the 65 recovered service members, one being a repatriated Japanese unknown. After various attempts to identify the remaining 39 sets were unsuccessful, they were ultimately interred as an Unknowns in the Manilla American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM).
To identify Hodak’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Like others who died in the fire, Glenn was buried at the prison in a mass grave, and his remains were not immediately recovered or identified after the war.
Glenn H Hodak is memorialized at Courts of the Missing, Court 7 Honolulu Memorial National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Honolulu, Hawaii.
Hodak will be buried in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania, in May 2025
U.S. Army Cpl. Delmer R. Grissom, 19, from San Patricio county, Texas, died as a POW during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In November 1950, Grissom was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Nov. 8 in the vicinity of Parwon Myon, North Korea, after the Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River.
CPL Grissom was forced to march to Camp 5 at Pyoktong and died of dysentery and malnutrition on an unspecified date in April 1951.
After the war, returning prisoners reported that Grissom was held at Camp 5 in Pyoktong, North Korea and died on April 30, 1951
Corporal Grissom is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
U.S. Army Pfc. Roland L. Bowser, 20, from Pennsylvania, died as a POW during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In November 1950, Bowser was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Nov. 2 in the vicinity of Usan, after his regiment’s withdrawal.
After the war, returning prisoners reported that Bowser was held at Camp 5 in Pyoktong, North Korea and died on June 5, 1951
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
U.S. Army Master Sgt. George C. Manring, 21, Polk County, Florida killed in action during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In September 1950, Manring was assigned to Battery B, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950, in the vicinity of Hagaru-ri near the Chosin Reservoir, Republic of Korea.
The U.S. Army did not receive any indication that he was ever held as a prisoner of war and with no evidence of his continued survival, issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
George C Manring is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
George is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
March 24
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Charles Arnao, 30, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died as a POW during World War II, was accounted for.
In May 1943, Arnao was assigned to Signal Company, Aircraft Warning, Philippines Department on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines.
He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1943 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru.
Charles "Died While A POW" of the Japanese Army in the sinking of the Enoura Maru, along with 270 other POW's.
Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay.
Arnao was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru.
The Japanese reported that Arnao was killed on Jan. 9, 1945, when U.S. forces sank the Enoura Maru
Charles Arnao is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Army Cpl. Joshua Corruth, 20, Deerfield, FL killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In December 1950, Corruth was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army.
Corruth was reported missing in action on Oct. 8 near Kwang-Ju, Republic of Korea.
The Army did not receive any information to indicate Corruth was ever held as a prisoner of war and issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1952.
On Jan. 16, 1956, he was declared non-recoverable
He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 8 October 1950.
He was presumed dead on 31 December 1953.
Joshua is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
March 21
U.S. Army Capt. Paul E. Pearson, 38
U.S. Army Capt. Paul E. Pearson, 38, Riley County, Kansas died as a POW during World War II, was accounted for.
In April 1942, Pearson was assigned to II Philippine Corps on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines.
He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1942 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru.
Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay.
Japanese captors 60,000-80,000 American and Filipino troops were forced at gunpoint to march over sixty miles to their internment in Japanese prisoner of war camps.
Pearson was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru.
The Japanese reported that Pearson was killed on Jan. 9, 1945, when U.S. forces sank the Enoura Maru
Paul E Pearson is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Paul’s remains were repatriated to the United States after the war. He is now buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
March 21
Army Cpt. Charles G. Gibson Jr., 28, Alief, Texas killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Gibson was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action Dec. 11, 1950, in the vicinity of Hagaru-ri near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
The U.S. Army did not receive any information to indicate that he was ever held as a Prisoner of War and on Dec. 31, 1953, issued a presumptive finding of death.
Airman
March 20
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John A. Pagliuso, 24, Wayne County, New York killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On 5 October 1942 he was on the crew of the B-25 Mitchell Bomber #41-29701 "Battalion' Biffy" when they were shot down over New Guinea.
They were last seen in a steep dive and were never seen again.
Two of the crew managed to bail out but were captured and executed by the Japanese. The other five were killed and missing in the crash.
They were officially declared dead on 12 December 1945
The aircraft did not return, and postwar search efforts failed to recover any remains.
John A Pagliuso is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing Manila American Cemetery Manila, Philippines.
March 20
U.S. Army Capt. Ralph L. Rowland, 43, from California killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In May 1942, Rowland was assigned to Signal Company, Aircraft Warning, Philippines Department on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines.
He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1942 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru.
Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay.
Rowland was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru.
The Japanese reported that Rowland was killed on Jan. 9, 1945, when U.S. forces sank the Enoura Maru.
Ralph L Rowland is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing Manila American Cemetery Manila, Philippines.
March 19
U.S. Army Pvt. Blanchard E. Pruitt, 19, from Sabine Parish, Louisiana who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1942, Pruitt was a member of the Medical Detachment, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Pruitt was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Pruitt died on Jan. 1, 1943, and was buried in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Grave 822
Private Pruitt is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
March 17
U.S. Army Pvt Roman Cherubini, 22, of Bridgeton, New Jersey, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Cherubini’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
Cherubini was assigned to F Company, 2nd Battalion, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), also known as “Merrill’s Marauders.” Cherubini joined the unit as part of "New Galahad" replacements sent to supplement the original group of 5307th troops ("Old Galahad") in May 1944.
After arriving at the recently captured airfield in Myitkyina, Burma, Cherubini’s battalion advanced south from the village of Mankrin on June 16 against heavily fortified Japanese positions north of Myitkyina.
Although the exact circumstances of his death were not recorded, the U.S. War Department declared Cherubini Killed in Action on June 16, 1944.The remains of servicemen killed during the battle were buried in at least eight different temporary cemeteries and numerous isolated burial locations. Eventually, all known burials were concentrated into the U.S. Military Cemetery at Myitkyina, including remains that could not be identified.
In January and February 1946, all of the remains at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Myitkyina were disinterred and transferred to the U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda, India. The exhumation of the U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda was conducted in September and October 1947, with unidentified remains transferred to the Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) on Oahu for further analysis.
Despite the efforts of CIL staff, one of these remains, designated X-65 Kalaikunda, could not be identified and was subsequently buried as a World War II Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Honolulu on Mar. 11, 1949.
Cherubini’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City, Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cherubini will be buried on a date yet to be determined
March 17
U.S. Army Sgt. Norman H. Drewes, 24, of Hamler, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Drewes's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In June 1944, Drewes was a member of Company D, 708th Amphibious Tank Battalion. He was killed June 15 during Operation Forager on the island of Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands. Marines ashore on the island were under constant assault from Japanese mortars, which caused heavy casualties and impeded American’s movements.
The exact cause of Drewes’s death is unknown, but it is believed his unit was providing armor support to the Marines’ initial landing on the beaches.
Drewes’s remains were not known to have been accounted for during or after the war. The War Department declared him non-recoverable in September 1949.
The American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) searched for and disinterred remains throughout the Pacific theater in an effort to identify fallen service members after the end of the war. Remains identified as Unknown X-58 were first reported as buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Saipan.
However, the AGRS was not able to identify X-58, and the remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines in 1950.
Drewes’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 still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Drewes will be buried in Hamler, Ohio, in May 2025
March 17
U.S. Army Maj. James J. O’Donovan, 34, of Cohoes, New York, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
O'Donovan's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1942, O’Donovan was a member of 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. O’Donovan was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, O’Donovan died on Oct. 18, 1942, and was buried in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Grave 649.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1948, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them.
One set of remains was recovered from Grave 649 but could not be identified. They were declared unidentifiable on Feb. 27, 1952. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as an Unknown.
In 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Grave 649 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, O’Donovan’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, O’Donovan is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
O’Donovan will be buried in San Diego, California on a date yet to be determined.
March 17
U.S. Army Air Forces Pfc. Lee I. Clendenning, 23, Rib Lake, Wisconsin killed during World War II, was accounted for.
During World War II, Clendenning was assigned to 23rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 5th Bombardment Group at Hickam Airfield on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. On.
Dec. 7th, 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft expanded to Hickam Field, targeting U.S. aircrafts and ships, barracks, supply buildings, and the base chapel.
The attack lasted four hours. Clendenning was reportedly killed during this time
Tablets of the Missing
Airman
March 12
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Russell O. Chitwood, 27, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the winter of 1943, Chitwood was assigned to 359th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force.
On January 3, while on a bombing mission to Saint-Nazaire, France, his B-17F aircraft was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire.
The crew bailed out into the Bay of Biscay, France.
Of the 10 crewmembers, three were taken prisoner, one was witnessed to die in the water, and the remaining six were presumed dead.
Chitwood’s remains were not accounted for after the war.
Russell Owen Chitwood is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England.
March 12
Navy Fireman 3rd Class (F3c) Royle B. Luker, 17, from Little Rock, Arkansas killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Luker was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Luker
Fireman Third Class Luker is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
March 12
U.S. Army Sgt. Ivor D. Thornton, 34, Henry County, Virginia killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the Summer of 1944, Thornton was assigned to Company H, 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regimental Combat Team, 29th Infantry Division.
On June 6, during the storming of Normandy Beach, commonly known as “D-Day”, over 156,000 allied forces targeted five beaches along the coast of Normandy, France.
This operation is often remembered as one of the largest amphibious assaults in history.
Thornton was reportedly killed during the invasion of Omaha Beach. His remains were not accounted for following the war
Ivor D Thornton is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France.
March 11
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. William B. Bucey, 29, Summit County, Ohio who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In 1942, Bucey was a member of 121st Infantry Regiment, Philippine Army, which conducted guerrilla operations behind Japanese lines after the invasion of the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
Conventional fighting ended with the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942, but Bucey's unit continued to resist.
Bucey was eventually captured by the Japanese and sent to the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Bucey died Oct. 31, 1944 and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 836
William B Bucey is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
March 11
U.S. Army CWO Charles G. Benthien, 46, St Louis County, Missouri killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In April 1942, Benthien was assigned to the Headquarters, Philippine Department on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines.
He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines until 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru.
Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay.
Benthien was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru.
On Jan. 9, 1945, the Japanese reported that Benthien was killed when U.S. forces attacked and sank the Enoura Maru
Charles G Benthien is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
U.S. Army Cpl. Lester William Bauer, 20, from Clinton County, Indiana, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1950, Cpl. Bauer was assigned to I Company, 3rd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, 8th U.S. Army.
He was reported missing in action on July 27 near the Hadong Pass, northwest Jinju, Republic of Korea.
He was not reported as a prisoner of war and his remains were not recovered after the war.
With no evidence of his continued survival, the U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death of Dec. 31, 1953
Corporal Bauer is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC,
U.S. Army Cpl. Billie C. Driver, 18, of Dallas, Texas, killed in action during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Driver's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In September 1950, Driver was assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Eighth U.S. Army Korea. He was killed in action when his unit engaged in combat actions with the North Korean People’s Army in the vicinity of Kumbwa-dong, Republic of Korea, on Sept. 5. Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time.
The exact circumstances of his death were unknown.
On Oct. 30, 1950, Unknown Remains X-96 Taegu #2 (X-96) was recovered near the village of Namwon-dong, along with nine other sets of remains. Two sets of remains were initially identified by American Graves Registration Service personnel, and later another six were identified.
The two remaining sets could not be identified, and they were subsequently buried as Korean War Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.On April 15, 2019, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-96 and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Driver’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Driver will be buried in Dallas, Texas on a date yet to be determined.
Soldier
March 6
U.S. Army Pvt. James L. Harrington, 21, of Cincinnati, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Harrington's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In June 1944, Harrington was assigned to Company A, 149th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater.
On June 6, Harrington was aboard Landing Craft Infantry (Large) 92, along with roughly 200 other servicemembers, enroute to land on Omaha Beach, in Normandy, France.
As LCI-92 steamed toward the shore, it struck an underwater mine which caused the craft to burst into flames. The craft was also hit by enemy artillery fire, causing an explosion that ignited the ships fuel stores and instantly killed everyone in the troop compartment. Due to the urgency of the situation, it was impossible for others to search for survivors. Harrington’s remains were not accounted for after the war.
Around June 10, members of the 500th Medical Collecting Company examined the wreckage of LCI-92 and noted the burnt remains of servicemen in the troop compartment, where Harrington and others were last seen. American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, removed small amounts of remains from LCI-92 and buried them in the United States Military Cemetery St. Laurent-sur-Mer.Beginning in 1946, AGRC analyzed the remains found in LCI-92, segregating them into four separate Unknowns (X-53, X-83, X-83B, and X-83C).
Despite their efforts, AGRC were unable to identify the Unknowns at the time and they were interred in Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Normandy, France.
In June and August 2021, the Department of Defense and ABMC officials exhumed the comingled remains of the four Unknowns and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Harrington’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Harrington will be buried in Cincinnati, Iowa on a date yet to be determined.
U.S. Army Sgt. Rosslyn E. Gresens, 22, from Hill City, Minnesota killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1950, Gresens was a member of Company B, 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. On August 11, Gresens was part of a patrol on the west side of the Naktong River.
After a fire fight with enemy soldiers, the patrol broke contact with and began moving east to the river, incurring heavy losses along the way.
After crossing the river, survivors reported that Gresens was last seen providing fire in a rice paddy, but did not rejoin the withdrawing soldiers.
With no evidence of his continued survival, the Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1950.
Tanker
U.S. Army Pvt. James G. Loterbaugh, 35, of Roseville, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Loterbaugh’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In December 1944, Loterbaugh was assigned to Company C, 774th Tank Battalion, as a crewmember on an M4 “Sherman” tank. On Dec. 11, his platoon became separated from the rest of the company during a battle with German forces near Strass, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest.
The enemy surrounded Strass and by mid-day the entire platoon, including Loterbaugh’s tank, was reported Missing in Action. The Germans never reported Loterbaugh as a prisoner of war and Army personnel who searched the battlefield after the fighting found no lead regarding his fate. The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death in December 1945.Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe.
They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950. In the fall of 1947, investigators found unidentified remains in a destroyed tank near Strass. Officials designated them X-1128 Margraten (X-1128). Comparison and analysis were made, but at the time X-1128 could not be identified as Loterbaugh.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that X-1128, recovered from one of the burned-out tanks in Strass, possibly belonged to Loterbaugh.
The remains, which had been buried in Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, were disinterred in July 2022 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Loterbaugh’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Loterbaugh will be buried in Dayton, Ohio on a date yet to be determined.
U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. James H. Murray, 25, of Hollywood, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Murray's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1941, Murray was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Murray was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Murray died Nov. 22, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 816.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila.
In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. One of the sets of remains from Common Grave 816 were identified, while the remaining three were declared unidentifiable.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.In 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 816 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Murray’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Murray is memorialized on the Walls of the
Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Murray will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date yet to be determined.
U.S. Army Cpl. Ernest H. Ulrich, 26, of China, Texas, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Ulrich's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In late 1941, Ulrich was a member of Medical Department, 200th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Ulrich was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Ulrich died Nov. 22, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 807.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them.
Three sets of remains from Common Grave 807 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In late 2018, DPAA exhumed the remains of nine Unknowns associated with Common Grave 807 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Ulrich’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Ernest H Ulrich is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing Manila American Cemetery Manila, Philippines.
Ulrich will be buried in Palo Alto, California, on a date to be determined
U.S. Army Pvt. Charles W. Smalley, 19, of Waterloo, Indiana, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Smalley's family recently received their full briefing on his identification' therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In the Summer of 1944, Smalley was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division in the European Theater.
After the successful “D-Day” landings on the Normandy beaches, allied commanders implemented a plan for an invasion in southern France, code-named Operation DRAGOON.
On Aug. 25, Smalley’s unit’s objective was to repel German forces from a mountain between Marsanne and the village of La Coucourde. An eyewitness reported that Smalley was killed by machine gun fire during the first ten minutes of the attack. However, the War Department listed Smalley as missing in action as of Aug. 25, 1944.
In 1946, the American Graves Registration Command, the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the Marsanne and La Coucourde area for Smalley and others still unaccounted for from the attack. Investigators spoke with local officials but did not uncover any leads regarding the disposition of Smalley’s remains. Smalley was declared non-recoverable on April 16, 1951.On Sept. 6, 1944, members of the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company unearthed a set of unidentified remains from a secluded grave located on a wooded ridge north of Montélimar, France.
The remains were taken to a temporary U.S. Military Cemetery in Montélimar where they were labeled X-46. In November 1945, X-46 was relocated to the USMC Luynes near Marseille, France, and redesignated X-205. All efforts to identify the remains were unsuccessful.
Smalley’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Rhône American Cemetery, Draguignan, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Smalley will be buried in Chesterton, Indiana on a date yet to be determined
U.S. Army Sgt. George M. Barbiere, 23, from Montgomery County, New York, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
On the evening of November 27, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive attack against the U.S. and United Nations troops stationed in the Chosin Reservoir area in northeast North Korea, resulting in a seventeen-day conflict that became known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. At the time of the initial CCF attack, members the U.S. Army's 31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments were defending the area north of Sinhung-ni, on the east side of the reservoir.
The defenders were overwhelmed by the numerically superior CCF, and on December 1, were forced to withdraw to friendly lines at Hagaru-ri. Chinese roadblocks from Sinhung-ni to Hagaru-ri along with the constant enemy fire from the surrounding high ground, made the withdrawal route extremely dangerous. Eventually, the column was broken into separate segments, which the CCF attacked individually. Many men were lost or captured during the moving battle, with survivors reaching friendly lines in Hagaru-ri on December 2 and 3.In the winter of 1950, Barbiere was assigned to Service Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
The U.S. Army did not receive any indication that he was held as a Prisoner of War and issued a presumptive finding of death for Barbiere on Dec. 31, 1953
Sergeant Barbiere is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Sol
U.S. Army Pfc. Kenneth D. Burgess, 29, of Central City, Kentucky, missing in action during World War II, was accounted for.
Burgess's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In September 1943, Burgess was assigned to Company B, 4th Ranger Battalion, “Darby’s Rangers,” in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II.
He participated in Operation AVALANCHE, the amphibious invasion of Italy near Salerno, and engaged in fighting near the Chiunzi Pass on the Sorrento Peninsula. On Sept. 25, Burgess was missing in action following a patrol toward the village of Sala, Italy.
His body was not recovered, and German forces never reported him a prisoner of war. The War Department declared him non-recoverable on May 10, 1948.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the Mediterranean Theater. In 1947, AGRS investigators recovered remains from a cemetery in the village of San Nicola.
These remains were designated as X-152. The AGRS were unable to associate X-152 with nearby casualties. The remains were interred at U.S. Military Cemetery, Nettuno, which is now Sicily-Rome American Cemetery.
In 2019, while studying unresolved American losses in Operation AVALANCHE, a DPAA historian compiled unit records, company morning reports and grave registration records that indicated Burgess was likely lost in the vicinity of the X-152 recovery location. Members from the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) disinterred the remains in March 2022 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Burgess’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Burgess will be buried in Central City, Kentucky in May 2025.
USS West Virginia Sailor
Navy Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Arnold E. Lyon, 22, from Greeley, CO killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
Arnold Eugene "Bill" Lyon was born and raised in the area of Greeley, Colorado.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Lyon was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Lyon.
Arnold Eugene Lyon is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Soldier
U.S. Army Pvt. Mack Kidd, 20, from West Virginia killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1944, Kidd was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional).
After arriving at the recently captured airfield in Myitkyina, Burma, Kidd’s battalion was advancing south from the villages of Mankrin and Radhapur against heavily fortified Japanese positions north of Myitkyina.
Kidd was reported to have been killed during the battle and was declared non-recoverable in August 1950
U.S. Army Cpl. Floyd A. Dunning, 32, killed from Virginia during World War II, was accounted for.
In April 1942, Dunning was assigned to the Medical Department on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines.
He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1942 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru.
Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay. Dunning was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru.
After U.S. forces sank the Enoura Maru in January 1945, the Japanese military reported that Dunning was placed aboard the transport ship Brazil Maru, bound for Moji, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. During the transport, Japanese authorities reported that Dunning died of “wounds received in action” on Jan. 15, 1945.
U.S. Army Pvt. Ben F. Leslie, 31, killed during World War II, from New Mexico was accounted for.
In April 1942, Leslie was assigned to Battery H, 200th Coast Artillery Regiment. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1942 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru.
Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay.
The Japanese government reported that Leslie died aboard the Enoura Maru on January 9, 1945.
He was declared non-recoverable on March 22, 1949
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Robert T. McCollum, 22, of Cleveland, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
McCollum’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In June 1944, McCollum was assigned to the 565th Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater. On June 20, McCollum, the bombardier onboard a B-24J “Liberator” bomber, went missing in action when his plane crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark after colliding with another B-24 in the same formation. The pilot and co-pilot of McCollum’s aircraft were able to bail out and survived, but all evidence points to the rest of the crew being killed in the crash. The U.S. War Department issued a Finding of Death for McCollum on June 21, 1945.
In early 1948, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, investigated the crash, but were unable to find any of the missing crewmen. Over the next couple of years, the AGRC also assessed unidentified remains that washed ashore in the area where McCollum’s aircraft crashed but were not able to identify any of the crew. McCollum was declared non-recoverable on May 12, 1950.In 2019, Danish divers alerted the Royal Danish Navy to a WWII-era aircraft wreck in the general area where McCollum’s aircraft crashed. A .50 caliber machine gun with a damaged serial number that partially matched on the guns on McCollum’s aircraft was recovered. In August 2021, after the Royal Danish Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal cleared the site of unexploded ordnance, DPAA partner University of Delaware, along with the Royal Danish Navy, returned to conduct an underwater survey. The survey found possible human remains as well as enough evidence to recommend the site for an archaeological excavation.
From Sept. 21 to Oct. 11, 2022, DPAA primary partner Trident Archäologie, along with Wessex Archaeology and volunteers from Project Recover, and with stakeholders from the Royal Danish Navy and the Langelands Museum, returned to the site to conduct excavation and recovery operations. They found extensive evidence, including remains, material evidence, and the ID tags of two of the crew members, all of which was turned over to the Danish authorities and then accessioned into the DPAA laboratory.
Trident Archäologie, Wessex Archaeology, the Royal Danish Navy, and the Langelands Museum again returned to the site from Sept. 4-23, 2023, and May 18 to June 9, 2024, to conduct further operations, during which they found further material evidence and possible remains. That evidence was also accessioned into the DPAA laboratory.
McCollum’s name is recorded on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
McCollum will be buried in San Jose, California, on a date yet to be determined
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Frank A. Johnstone, 20, from Jefferson County, Texas killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the winter of 1945, Johnstone was assigned to the 721st Bombardment Squadron, 450th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force.
On Feb. 25, he served as a navigator aboard a B-24J on a bombardment mission to Linz, Austria.
During the mission, his aircraft was shot down by enemy fire and crashed near Groβraming, Austria.
Nine of the twelve crewmembers bailed out of the aircraft while the remaining three, including Johnstone, went down with the plane.
His remains were not recovered after the war
Frank A Johnstone is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France.
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. David P. Skjeie, 22, of Los Angeles, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In early 1944, Skjeie was assigned to the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Feb 24, Skjeie, the pilot onboard a B-24J “Liberator”, was killed in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. One of the surviving crewmembers reported seeing the plane on fire and in a steep dive, before eventually exploding on the ground. While two crewmembers survived, the others, including Skjeie, were killed in the incident. German forces garrisoned in the area documented the crash site north of Leimbach Bahnhof, near Bad Salzungen, Germany.
After the crash, German troops recovered the remains of the ball turret gunner and buried them in a local cemetery. The other six crewmembers, including Skjeie, were unaccounted for following the war.
In March 1952, the American Graves Registration Command, the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, took custody of comingled unidentified remains recovered from Bad Salzungen Cemetery.
These remains, X-9093 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9093), X-9094 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9094), and X-9095 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9095), were believed to be those belonging to 1st Lt. Skjeie’s downed aircraft. At the time, identification of these remains was not possible, and they were interred in the Ardennes America Cemetery, Belgium.
To identify Skjeie’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Skjeie’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Hombourg, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Skjeie will be buried in Sylmar, California on a date yet to be determined
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Robert D. McKee, 27, of Portland, Oregon, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
McKee's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In spring 1944, McKee was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater.
On April 8, McKee, the co-pilot onboard a B-24H “Liberator,” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel. The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all ten crewmembers, including McKee, were unaccounted for following the war.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the Salzwedel and Wistedt areas of Germany. German forces had maintained accurate documentation (Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen, or KU reports) of American aircraft shoot-downs, with several reports indicating B-24s crashing in the area. However, AGRC was unable to associate any KU reports with Little Joe and investigators were unable to locate any crash or burial sites associated with the loss.
In 2015, an independent research group, Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team (MAACRT), contacted DPAA historians with new information related to a possible crash site near Wistedt, Germany. Interviews with elderly local residents indicated there were two crash sites, but only one was recovered by American forces following the war. Investigators located the second crash site and were able to recover various pieces of wreckage. Possible remains were also located and transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. At the time, no matches could be made with any Unknowns and further investigations were scheduled.
McKee’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
McKee will be buried in Boulder City, Nevada, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Walter Archie Ross Jr., 29, of St. Louis, Missouri, who died in captivity during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Ross's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In early 1951, Ross was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on 14 February 1951, after his unit engaged the Chinese Communist Forces near Sang-nok, South Korea and the division's defensive positions were attacked and overrun.
Following the war, two repatriated U.S. POWs indicated that Ross was captured by the CCF, and while in Captivity died from dysentery in April 1951 at the Suan POW Camp Complex in North Korea. Ross remained unaccounted for and determined to be nonrecoverable in January 1956.
In
1994, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea government, unilaterally turned
over 14 boxes of remains believed to be those of U.S. service members.
Documentation accompanying those remains indicated that the remains in box 3
were exhumed from Suan County.
This information correlates with Ross' last reported location at the Suan POW Camp Complex.
To identify Ross’s remains, scientists from DPAA used DNA, dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph and other circumstantial evidence.
Ross’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Ross will be buried in Missouri, on a date yet to be determined
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Herbert G. Tennyson, 24, of Wichita, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
Tennyson's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In March 1944, Tennyson was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. On the morning of March 11, Tennyson, the pilot onboard a B-24D “Liberator” Heaven Can Wait departed Nadzab Strip #1, Papua New Guinea, as part of a bombing mission against enemy positions at Boram Airfield, and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea.
Observers from other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly. Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing down into the water. It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing un-dropped ordnance to explode. Several aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating any possible survivors, but none could be seen.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. In March 1950, a board of AGRS officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains of Tennyson and the other Heaven Can Wait crew members. They were designated as non-recoverable.
Between 2013 and 2017, the family of 2nd Lt. Kelly, Heaven Can Wait bombardier, undertook a dedicated archival research effort to collect historical documents and eyewitness accounts of the loss of the Heaven Can Wait crew. The family worked with Dr. Scott Althaus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to complete this effort and provided this documentation. In October 2017, Project Recover, a DPAA partner organization, located the wreckage of a B-24 aircraft in Hansa Bay while making sonar scans as part of a unilateral remote sensing survey effort. In 2019, a DPAA underwater investigation team (UIT) conducted several surveys of the wreckage, performing visual inspections and clearing the site of any unexploded ordnance.
Tennyson’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Tennyson will be buried in Wichita, Kansas, on a date yet to be determined.
U.S. Army Pvt. James C. Loyd, 19, of Brilliant, Alabama, missing in action during World War II, was accounted for.
Loyd's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In January 1944, Loyd was assigned to the Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division. On Jan. 31, Loyd was reported missing when his unit was engaged by German Forces near the town of Cisterna di Latina (Cisterna), Italy. He was last seen during a reconnaissance patrol north of the village of Conca.
His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a finding of death on Apr. 19, 1945.Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In 1945, AGRC investigators recovered a set of remains designated as X-834, near the small hamlet of Ponte Rotto thought to be associated with Loyd.
The investigators didn’t have enough identifying data to positively ID the remains and they were interred at U.S. Military Cemetery Nettuno, which is now Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. He was declared non-recoverable in 1948.While studying unresolved American losses in the Anzio battlefield, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains designated X-834 recovered near Ponte Rotto possibly belonged to Pvt. Loyd.
The remains which had been buried at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy, in 1948, were disinterred in September 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Loyd’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Loyd will be buried in Elwood, Illinois, in May 2025.
U.S. Army Pfc. Willard H. Edwards, 39 of Wise, Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Edwards's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the winter of 1950, Edwards was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Dec. 2 after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15728 Operation Glory. The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Edwards and he was declared non-recoverable in January 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In March 2021, DPAA disinterred X-15728, and after a decade of scientific advances and increased historical research, DPAA was able to positively associate X-15728 to Edwards.
Edwards’ name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Edwards will be buried in Mims, Florida, on a date yet to be determined.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Force Tech5 William E. Eby, 19, of Portland, Oregon, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Eby's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In late 1941, Eby was a member of 409th Signal Company, Aviation, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Eby was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Eby died June 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 407.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Sixteen of the 25 sets of remains from Common Grave 407 were identified, while the remaining nine were declared unidentifiable.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In November 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 407 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Eby’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Eby is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Eby will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date yet to be determined.
U.S. Navy Aviation Chief Metalsmith John W. Reimer, from California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Reimer was a member of Patrol Squadron 102, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Reimer was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Reimer died on Oct. 24, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 710.
John W Reimer Jr is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing Manila American Cemetery Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Army Pvt. Erwin H. Schopp, 30
U.S. Army Pvt. Erwin H. Schopp, 30, from Nebraska, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines.
Schopp was a member of Headquarters Battery, 59th Coastal Artillery Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Schopp was among those reported captured when U.S. forces on Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese. He was subsequently held at the Cabanatuan POW camp.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Schopp died on Jan. 1, 1943, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 822.
Private Schopp is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
U.S. Army Master Sgt. Luther Grace, 34, of Lumber City, Georgia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Grace's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In July 1950, Grace was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30 in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
There was no evidence that he was held as a prisoner of war. The U.S. Army issued presumptive finding of death of 31 December 1953.In 1954, the United Nations Command and the Chinese Communist Forces exchanged the remains of fallen service personnel in an effort named Operation GLORY.
Grace’s remains could not be identified by the Central Identification Unit Laboratory at Kokura, Japan at the time, and were designated Unknown X-15760. In 1956, all of the unidentified Korean War remains, including Unknown X-15760 were transferred, as Unknowns, to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, DPAA researchers and anthropologists proposed a plan to disinter and identify the 652 Korean War unknown burials from the Punchbowl. Unknown X-15760 was disinterred March 29, 2021, during phase three of the Korean War Disinterment Project and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory.
Grace’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monument Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Grace will be buried in Lumber City, Georgia, on a date to be determined
U.S. Army Sgt. Orace J. Mestas, 22, Las Animas County, Colorado killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In April 1951, Mestas was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action near Chip’o-ri, North Korea after his unit’s position was attacked on April 25.
Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered. The U.S. Army determined him to be nonrecoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Mestas's case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
Sergeant Mestas is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Joe A. De Jarnette, 24, of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
De Jarnette's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In spring 1944, De Jarnette was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater. On April 8, De Jarnette, the pilot onboard a B-24H “Liberator,” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel.
The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all ten crewmembers, including De Jarnette, were unaccounted for following the war.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the Salzwedel and Wistedt areas of Germany. German forces had maintained accurate documentation (Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen, or KU) of American aircraft shoot-downs, with several reports indicating B-24s crashing in the area. However, AGRC was unable to associate any KU reports with Little Joe and investigators were unable to locate any crash or burial sites associated with the loss.
In 2015, an independent research group, Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team (MAACRT), contacted DPAA historians with new information related to a possible crash site near Wistedt, Germany. Interviews with elderly local residents indicated there were two crash sites, but only one was recovered by American forces following the war. Investigators located the second crash site and were able to recover various pieces of wreckage. Possible osseous remains were also located and transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. At the time, no matches could be made with any Unknowns and further investigations were scheduled.
Between 2021 and 2023, DPAA investigators returned to the crash site and continued investigation, and then excavations and recoveries. By the end of November 2023, all evidence, including possible osseous remains and possible life support equipment, had been recovered and returned to the DPAA laboratory.
De Jarnette’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
De Jarnette will be buried in Erlanger, Kentucky, on a date to be determined
U.S.
Army Sgt. James B. Brock, 20, from
Phoenix,
Arizona
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Sergeant James Byron Brock was a member of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On December 12, 1950, he was reported missing in action after the roll call taken at Hamhung; specific details surrounding his loss are unknown.
He was not reported on any prisoner of war records, and he remains unaccounted-for.
Today, Sergeant Brock is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Pilot
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Gilbert A. Rauh, 28, of Thornwood, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
Rauh's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In December 1943, Rauh was a member of the 436th Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group during World War II.
On Dec. 1, he was serving as the pilot of a B-24J “Liberator” bomber while on a bombing mission from Panagarh, India, to the Insein Railroad Yard north of Rangoon, Burma. After reaching the designated target, Rauh’s plane was reportedly hit by anti-aircraft fire, causing the left wing to burst into flames. Witnesses from another aircraft noted seeing Rauh’s aircraft enter a steep dive while disappearing below the clouds.
It was noted that 3 enemy aircraft were also seen following the crippled plane into the clouds, and no further contact was made with the Liberator. The remains of the crew were not recovered or identified after the war, and they were all later declared Missing in Action.
In 1947, the American Grave Registration Service (AGRS) recovered the remains of what they believed to be eight individuals involved in a potential B-24 Liberator crash near Yodayadet, Burma.
According to local witnesses, there were no survivors from this aviation loss and Japanese forces had instructed local villagers to bury the remains in two large graves.
In early 2019, DPAA received a family disinterment request for Unknown X-505A-H based on past attempts to associate the remains with other unresolved losses from southern Burma. DPAA historians reviewing the associated files believed a more likely association for the remains was possible in X-505A-H. The Department of Defense approved the disinterment request, and in October 2020, DPAA personnel exhumed the remains from NMCP where they were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Rauh’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Rauh will be buried in Pleasantville, New York in May 2025.
U.S. Army Cpl. Frederick Carrino, 18, of Berkeley, Missouri, missing during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Carrino's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared. In December 1950, Carrino was assigned to B Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, in the Korean theater. He was reported missing in action (MIA) after his unit was forced to retreat from Hagaru-ri, North Korea, after the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
The U.S. Army could not establish that Carrino was ever held as a prisoner of war.
In the fall of 1953, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Changsong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #1, to the United Nations Command. However, Carrino’s name did not appear on any of the transfer rosters and the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, did not associate him with any repatriated remains. A presumptive finding of death was issued on Dec. 31, 1953. In late 1956 all unidentified remains, including one designated X-15880, were buried as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu, Hawaii, known as the Punchbowl.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In June 2020, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-15880 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Carrino’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Carrino will be buried in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, on a date yet to be determined.
U.S. Army Sgt. David Eugene Hardy, 20, of Cascade, Virginia, who died while a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Hardy's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1950, Hardy was assigned to Headquarters Battery, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery – Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after the 2nd Infantry Division's withdrawal from Kunu-ri to Sunchon, North Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, a POW from Sgt. Hardy’s unit was returned during Operation Big Switch, and reported that Hardy died on Feb. 28, 1951, while a prisoner at POW Camp #5, Pyoktong, North Korea.
In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation Glory, Chinese Communist Forces returned remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong to the United Nations Command. None were associated with Hardy.
One set of remains returned from Camp #5 during Operation Glory, which could not be identified, were designated Unknown X-14527 and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On Dec. 9, 2019, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-14527 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Hardy’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hardy will be buried in Eden, North Carolina, in March 2025
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Justice J. Buttala, 24, Chicago, Illinois killed during World War II, was accounted for on Jan. 14, 2025.
In the spring of 1945, Buttala served as an observer aboard a B-29 "Superfortress" bomber assigned to 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force.
On April 24, during a combat mission to Japan, the aircraft was shot down over Tachikawa, on the western outskirts of Tokyo.
Buttala survived the crash but was held as a prisoner of war. He perished in the Tokyo Military Prison during a fire on May 26, 1945.
He perished in the Tokyo Military Prison during a fire on May 26, 1945.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Buttala's case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
Justice Joseph Buttala is memorialized at Courts of the Missing, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.
U.S. Army Pvt. Charles W. Smalley, 19, from Chesterton, Indiana killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the Summer of 1944, Smalley was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division in the European Theater. After the successful “D-Day” landings on the Normandy beaches, allied commanders implemented a plan for an invasion in southern France, code-named Operation DRAGOON.
On August 25, Smalley’s unit’s objective was to repel German forces from a mountain between Marsanne and the village of La Coucourde.
An eyewitness reported that Smalley was killed by machine gun fire during the first ten minutes of the attack. However, the War Department listed Smalley as missing in action as of Aug. 25, 1944.
Private Smalley is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at Rhône American Cemetery, Draguignan, France.
U.S. Army Pfc. Robert L. Bryant, 23, of Bloomington, Illinois, missing in action during World War II, was accounted for.
Bryant's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In September 1943, Bryant was assigned to Company B, 4th Ranger
Battalion, “Darby’s Rangers,” in the Mediterranean Theater in World War II. He
participated in Operation AVALANCHE, the amphibious invasion of Italy near
Salerno, and engaged in fighting near the Chiunzi Pass on the Sorrento
Peninsula.
On September 23, Bryant was reported missing in action following a four-man
patrol west of Pietre, Italy. His body was not recovered, and German forces
never reported him a prisoner of war. The War Department declared him
non-recoverable on July 19, 1949.
In
2019, while studying unresolved American losses in Operation AVALANCHE, a DPAA
historian compiled unit records, company morning reports and grave registration
records that indicated Bryant was likely lost in the vicinity of the X-152
recovery location.
Members from the Department of Defense and the American
Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)
disinterred the remains in March 2022 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for
identification.
Bryant’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Bryant will be buried in Richmond, Virginia in April 2025
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Eugene J. Darrigan, 26, of Wappinger’s Falls, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Darrigan's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In March 1944, Darrigan was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. On the morning of March 11, Darrigan, the radio operator onboard a B-24D “Liberator” Heaven Can Wait departed Nadzab Strip #1, Papua New Guinea, as part of a bombing mission against enemy positions at Boram Airfield, and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea. Observers from other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly. Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing down into the water. It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing un-dropped ordnance to explode. Several aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating any possible survivors, but none could be seen.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service, the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. In March 1950, a board of AGRS officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains of Darrigan and the other Heaven Can Wait crew members. They were designated as non-recoverable.
Between 2013 and 2017, the family of 2nd Lt. Kelly, Heaven Can Wait bombardier, undertook a dedicated archival research effort to collect historical documents and eyewitness accounts of the loss of the Heaven Can Wait crew. The family worked with Dr. Scott Althaus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to complete this effort and provided this documentation. In October 2017, Project Recover, a DPAA partner organization, located the wreckage of a B-24 aircraft in Hansa Bay while making sonar scans as part of a unilateral remote sensing survey effort. In 2019, a DPAA underwater investigation team conducted several surveys of the wreckage, performing visual inspections and clearing the site of any unexploded ordnance.
Darrigan’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Darrigan will be buried in Calverton, New York on a date yet to be determined.
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Forces Capt. Arthur M. Lingo, 24, from Taft,California killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1944, Lingo was assigned to 362nd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, 66th Fighter Wing, 8th Fighter Command. During a bomber escort mission to Sorau, Germany, the P-51 Mustang fighter he piloted was shot down by enemy aircraft and crashed near Miesterhorst, Germany.
The wingman reported that he had to pull out of the dive due to his windshield fogging, but that CPT Lingo continued after the plane. Captain Lingo was not seen again, despite his wingman’s efforts to locate him following the dive maneuver.
Lingo was reported missing in action on April 11, 1944, and his remains were not identified after the war.
The Army issued a presumptive finding of death for Lingo for Oct. 18, 1945.
Captain Lingo is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.
U.S. Army Sgt. DeLoren D. Dage, 23, from Los Angeles, California killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the winter of 1950, Dage was a member of Able Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division.
Between November 27 and December 1, his company engaged with the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army on the Eastern side of the Chosen Reservoir in North Korea, sustaining heavy casualties, including Dage.
He was declared missing in action on Dec. 2, 1951.
Sergeant Dage is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
U.S. Army Pfc. Joseph R. Travers, 24, of Taunton, Massachusetts, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Traver’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In early 1951, Travers was a member of Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on April 22, 1951, after his unit had engaged enemy forces near the village of Undam-Jang, Republic of Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, several POWs who returned during Operation Big Switch reported Travers had been a prisoner of war and died in December 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #1.
In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation GLORY, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Changsong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #1, to the United Nations Command. None were associated with Travers.
One set of remains disinterred from Camp #1 returned during Operation Glory was designated Unknown X-14197 and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In August 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14197 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Travers’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph comparison. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Travers’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A
rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Travers will be buried in Taunton, Massachusetts, on a date yet to be determined.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Felix J. Shostak, 24, of Oxnard, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Shostak's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In August of 1944, Shostak was assigned to the 860th Bombardment Squadron, 493rd Bombardment Group, in the European Theater of Operations. On Aug 18, Shostak was a crewmember onboard a B-24H “Liberator,” when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Boussicourt, France. Only one airman survived, while the other eight crew members, including Shostak, were still on board. German records indicate the bomber crashed roughly two kilometers west of Boussicourt, where the remains of several individuals were recovered and buried.
Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred and identified six sets of remains recovered from the village cemetery at Pierrepont-sur-Avre, France. At the time they were unable to identify Shostak and one other crewmember.
In 2018, DPAA investigators excavated a site near Boussicourt which they believe correlated with Shostak’s crash site. While there, they were able to recover possible remains along with other materials believed to be associated with the B-24H. This new evidence, along with previously unidentified remains, were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
Shostak’s name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Shostak will be buried in Proctor, Vermont in June 2025.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Donald W. Downing, 33, of Columbus, Wisconsin, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for.
Downing's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In September 1967, Downing was assigned to 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, 7th Air Force. On Sept. 5, he was piloting an F-4C Phantom II aircraft as the second in a flight of two aircraft conducting a nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over the then-Democratic Republic of Vietnam. While on a run to their target, the first aircraft witnessed a large, bright fireball in the air, and Downing’s aircraft did not respond to any radio calls. Search and rescue efforts began at daylight, but electronic and visual searches didn’t find anything. On April 28, 1978, the Air Force reported Capt. Downing as Killed in Action. He was later posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
After decades of investigation into the incident yielding no results, a recovery team with Joint Field Activity 24-3VN recovered life support equipment, possible material evidence, aircraft wreckage, unexploded ordnance and possible osseous material at a site in Quang Binh Province in May and June 2024. Evidence from the mission was accessioned into the DPAA laboratory in June 2024.
To identify Downing’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA analysis
Lieutenant Colonel Downing is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall 25E 113 in Washington, DC.
U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. Donald E. Bays, 21, Hubbard Springs, Lee County, Kentucky killed during World War II, was accounted for.
During World War II, Bays was assigned to the Tow Target Detachment at Hickam Airfield on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. On. Dec. 7th, 1944, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft expanded to Hickam Field, targeting U.S. aircrafts and ships, barracks, supply buildings, and the base chapel.
The attack lasted four hours. Bays was reportedly killed during this time.
Donald Edgar Bays is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Loring E. Lord, 28, of Sommerville, Massachusetts, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Lord’s family recently received their full briefing on his
identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be
shared.
In March 1945, Lord was a member of the 642nd Bombardment Squadron, 409th
Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Division, 9th Air Force. He was a gunner
aboard an A-26B “Invader”, when his aircraft was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire
during a bombing mission to Duelmen, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft
flying in formation witnessed the A-26B lose altitude, crash and explode. There
was no indication that anyone escaped the crash, and the crew was reported
Missing In Action.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was
tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the
European Theater. During their investigations, AGRC members interviewed local
residents and officials for information about missing American servicemen. In
1949, they visited villages between Velen and Dulmen, including Groß Reken,
where a former police chief reported seeing an American plane go down after one
of its wings was shot off. Mr. Heinrich Mels, reported the German Wehrmacht
immediately secured the crash site, and buried several airmen in the local
cemetery.
Earlier in April 1945, those remains were exhumed when U.S. Army forces occupied
the town. Designated X-273 and X-274 Margraten, they were identified as
crewmembers aboard Lord’s aircraft. This prompted a renewed search of the crash
site outside Groß Reken, where investigators located several aircraft parts.
Unfortunately, no other remains were located.
In 2014, DPAA historians received information from a German researcher, Adolf
Hagedorn, about a possible crash site he believed could be associated with
Lord’s aircraft. A DPAA investigation team met with Hagedorn and reviewed his
extensive research, and the possible crash site. Later in 2018, after several
recovery missions, DPAA excavations located identification media for one of
Lord’s crewmembers, and possible osseous remains. These collected materials were
then sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
Lord’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site
in Hombourg, Belgium, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Lord will be buried in Everette, Massachusetts on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pfc. Arthur A. Clifton,
17, of Los
Lunas, New Mexico, killed during the
Korean War, was accounted for.
Clifton’s family recently received their full
briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his
identification can be shared.
In the winter of 1950, Clifton was a member of
Headquarters Battery, 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He
was reported missing in action on Dec. 11 after his unit was attacked by Chinese
Communist Forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North
Korea.
In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea
unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set,
designated Unknown X-15690 Operation Glory.
Those remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Clifton and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
The remains were subsequently buried as an
unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
Clifton’s name is recorded on the Courts of the
Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the
Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name
to indicate he has been accounted for.
Clifton will be buried in San Antonio, Texas, in
January 2025.
Marine
Marine Corps Sgt. Robert F. Van Heck, 25, of Chicago, IL, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Van Heck’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.In November 1943, Van Heck was a member of Company A, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 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, while the Japanese forces were virtually annihilated. Van Heck died on the first day of battle, Nov. 20. A memorial marker for Van Heck was placed in Cemetery 11.In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation.
Almost half of the known casualties were never found. The remains that were recovered were sent to Hawaii for analysis. Those that could not be identified or associated with one of the missing were buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, including one set designated Tarawa Unknown X-265.In 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-265 from the Punchbowl as part of an effort to identify the Tarawa Unknowns buried there.
To identify Van Heck’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Van Heck’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Van Heck will be buried Jan. 7, 2025, in Hillside, Illinois.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Merrill E. Brewer, 26, Worcester County, Massachusetts killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the fall of 1943, Brewer served as the waist gunner aboard a B-24 Liberator bomber with 858th Bombardment Squadron, 492nd Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force. The unit was engaged in Operation CARPETBAGGER, a series of secret missions in which several specially designated bomb groups dropped supplies, arms, equipment, leaflets, U.S. Office of Strategic Services and French agents to resistance groups operating in northern France.
On Sept. 16, 1944, Brewer’s crew was scheduled to fly its final mission to drop supplies to resistance forces 40 miles east of the Moselle River. 115th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion, an American artillery unit stationed near Lebeuville, France, mistook Brewer’s B-24 for an enemy aircraft and opened fire upon it, killing six of the eight crew members onboard, including Brewer.
On the morning of Sept. 17, 1944, American soldiers recovered the remains discovered at the crash site, along with identification tags belonging to four of the crewmembers.
Of the eight crewmembers aboard, two successfully parachuted to safety, while four were resolved through remains found at the crash site.
Two were left unaccounted for, one of which was Brewer.
U.S. Army Tech. Sgt. Joseph R. Moore, 28, Henrico County, Virginia killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December 1944, Moore was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, in Europe. His regiment had recently captured Hürtgen, Germany, during the Hürtgen Forest offensive.
Beginning Dec. 1, Moore’s unit was part of the push east from the town. He was reported missing in action as of Dec. 11 while his unit occupied the woods between Brandenberg and Kleinhau, though there is no clear indication of what happened to him. The Germans never reported Moore as a German prisoner of war, and Army investigators found no evidence he survived the fighting around Brandenberg.
The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 12, 1945.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was
tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe.
They conducted several investigations and recoveries in the Hürtgen Forest
between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to find and identify Moore.
He was declared Non-Recoverable on Dec. 12, 1951.
Joseph R Moore is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium.
U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. 1st Class David C. Hansen, 25, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Hansen’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1941, Hansen was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Hansen was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Hansen died June 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 407.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Sixteen of the 25 sets of remains from Common Grave 407 were identified, while the remaining nine were declared unidentifiable.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In Nov. 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 407 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Hansen’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Hansen is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hansen will be buried in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John H. Mann, 22, Stow, New York killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
During World War II, Mann was assigned to 22nd Material Squadron at Hickam Airfield on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. On. Dec. 7th, 1944, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft expanded to Hickam Field, targeting U.S. aircrafts and ships, barracks, supply buildings, and the base chapel.
The attack lasted four hours. Mann was reportedly killed during this time.
John Henry Mann is memorialized at Courts of the Missing, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. George F. Bradbury, 22, Carroll County, Georgia killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the fall of 1943, Bradbury served as the navigator aboard a B-24 Liberator bomber with 858th Bombardment Squadron, 492nd Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force. The unit was engaged in Operation CARPETBAGGER, a series of secret missions in which several specially designated bomb groups dropped supplies, arms, equipment, leaflets, and U.S. Office of Strategic Services and French agents to resistance groups operating in northern France.
On Sept. 16, 1944, Bradbury’s crew was scheduled to fly its final mission to drop supplies to resistance forces 40 miles east of the Moselle River. 115th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion, an American artillery unit stationed near Lebeuville, France.
Mistook Bradbury’s B-24 for an enemy aircraft and opened fire upon it, killing six of the eight crew members onboard, including Bradbury.
George was declared "Missing In Action" when his B-24 was shot down by friendly fire over Charles, France while flying a "Carpetbagger" night mission to drop supplies to French resistance forces during the war.
George F Bradbury is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Robert T. McCollum, 22, Cuyahoga County, Ohio killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, McCollum was assigned to the 565th Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater.
On June 20, McCollum, the bombardier onboard a B-24J “Liberator” bomber, went missing in action when his plane crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark after colliding with another B-24 in the same formation.
The pilot and co-pilot of McCollum’s aircraft were able to bail out and survived, but all evidence points to the rest of the crew being killed in the crash.
The U.S. War Department issued a Finding of Death for McCollum on June 21, 1945.
Robert T McCollum is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.
U.S. Army Air Force Tech4 Lloyd R. Bruntmyer, 22, of Des Moines, Iowa, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Bruntmyer’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1941, Bruntmyer was a member of 7th Materiel Squadron, 5th Air Base Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Bruntmyer was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Bruntmyer died Nov. 1, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 704.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila.
In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Two of the sets of remains from Common Grave 704 were identified, while the remaining 8 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as Unknowns.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Bruntmyer’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Today, Bruntmyer is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Bruntmyer will be buried in San Diego, California, in Nov. 2025.
Navy Mess Attendant 3rd Class (Matt3c) Neil D. Frye, 20, Vass, North Carolina, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Frye was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Frye.
Mess Attendant Third Class Frye is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
U.S. Army Pfc. James C. Bowman, 20, of Jordan, West Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Bowman’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the winter of 1950, Bowman was assigned to K Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 28 after his unit was attacked by Chinese People's Volunteer Army as the 31st Regimental Combat Team withdrew from Pungnyri Inlet of the Chosin Reservoir to Hagaru-ri, North Korea.
In September and October 1954, during Operation Glory, Chinese Communist Forces turned over remains to the United Nations Command, including one set, designated Unknown X-15647. These remains were reportedly recovered from the east side of the Chosin Reservoir, but could not be positivity identified as any unaccounted-for Soldier. Unknown X-15647 was subsequently buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, also known as the Punchbowl.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In March 2021, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-1564 as part of Phase Three of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Bowman’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Bowman’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Bowman will be buried in Fairmont, West Virginia, on a date yet to be determined.
U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Hubert Yeary, 20, of Richmond, Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Yeary’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In spring 1944, Yeary was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On April 8, Yeary, the ball turret gunner onboard a B-24H “Liberator” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany.
Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel. The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all nine crewmembers, including Yeary, were unaccounted for following the war.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the Salzwedel and Wistedt areas of Germany. German forces had maintained accurate documentation (Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen, or KU) of American aircraft shoot-downs, with several reports indicating B-24s crashing in the area.
However, AGRC was unable to associate any KU reports with Little Joe and investigators were unable to locate any crash or burial sites associated with the loss.
In 2015, an independent research group, Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team (MAACRT), contacted DPAA historians with new information related to a possible crash site near Wistedt, Germany. Interviews with elderly local residents indicated there were two crash sites, but only one was recovered by American forces following the war. Investigators located the second crash site and were able to recover various pieces of wreckage. Possible osseous remains were also located and transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. At the time, no matches could be made with any Unknowns and further investigations were scheduled.
Between 2021 and 2023, DPAA investigators returned to the crash site and continued excavations and recoveries. By the end of September 2023, all evidence, including possible osseous remains and possible life support equipment, had been recovered and returned to the DPAA laboratory.
Yeary’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Yeary will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pvt. Leonard R. J. Jackson, 22, Fergus County, Montana who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Jackson was a member of Battery L of the 60th Coast Artillery Corps (CAC), when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Jackson was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Jackson died Oct. 31, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 703
Leonard R J Jackson is buried at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John H. Danneker, 19, Williamsport, Pennsylvania killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, Danneker was assigned to the 565th Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater. On June 20, Danneker, the left waist gunner onboard a B-24J “Liberator” bomber, went missing in action when his plane crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark after colliding with another B-24 in the same formation.
The pilot and co-pilot of Danneker’s aircraft were able to bail out and survived, but all evidence points to the rest of the crew being killed in the crash. The U.S. War Department issued a Finding of Death for Danneker on June 21, 1945.
In early 1948, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, investigated the crash, but were unable to find any of the missing crewmen.
Over the next couple of years, the AGRC also assessed unidentified remains that washed ashore in the area where Danneker’s aircraft crashed, but were not able to identify any of the crew.
Danneker was declared non-recoverable on May 12, 1950.
Staff Sergeant John H. Danneker were accounted for in 2024. His name is permanently inscribed on the “Walls of the Missing” at the Cambridge American Cemetery.
U.S. Army Air Force Sgt. Homer C. Nyberg, 23, of Clay Center, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Nyberg’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.In late 1944, Nyberg was assigned to the 368th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 1st Bombardment Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On December 29, Nyberg, a ball turret gunner onboard a B-17G “Flying Fortress”, became missing in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Bingen, Germany.
All crewmembers were able to bail out of the stricken aircraft, and only one airman was found dead by German forces near the crash site. Five men were captured and processed into the German prisoner of war (POW) camp system, ultimately surviving the war.
Nyberg and two other crewmembers were unaccounted for, and there was no record of them being held as POWs.
In 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating several crash sites from downed aircraft of the Bingen air raid. Local German citizens were interviewed, and several accounts were recorded seeing American troops landing by parachutes. One airman was recovered by a local civilian who took him in and provided aid, but the airman was ultimately taken into custody by German military authorities. Nyberg and the third missing airman were not accounted for. Investigations continued for several years, but by April 1950 AGRC exhausted all efforts to recover these missing men and issued a recommendation they be declared non-recoverable.
In 2013, DPAA researchers working in collaboration with local Germans recovered documents from the state archive at Koblenz, which appeared to contain information on the loss of three captured airmen. These documents referenced a War Crimes case (12-1254) which indicated Nyberg was captured and killed by German SS troops near the town of Kamp-Bornhofen, and buried in the local cemetery there. Neither Nyberg, nor his two missing crewmates were ever officially registered as POWs, which explains why American investigators were unable to ascertain their fate during or after the war.
Between May 2021 and August 2022, DPAA teams began excavation of a suspected burial site in the Kamp-Bornhofen Cemetery, where the three airmen are believed to be buried. Under the supervision and direction of two Scientific Recovery Experts, the team recovered possible osseous remains and associated materials. These items were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
Nyberg’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Nyberg will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on a date to be determined.
Soldier
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Arthur W. Crossland Jr, 19, of Columbia, South Carolina, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 21, 2024.
Crossland’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In March 1945, Crossland was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 242nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II. Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND.
The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company L was assigned to move online near Althorn, France. Intense fighting ensued in the heavily wooded terrain filled with minefields, and mortars and machine gun fire halted Company L’s advance. Witnesses stated seeing Crossland trigger a mine roughly 200 yards in front of the main resistance line. He was killed instantly, but U.S. forces had to withdraw before they could recover his body.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began looking for missing American personnel in the Althorn area. At the time, they were unable to recover any remains which could be identified as Crossland. By late 1950, the Office of the Quartermaster General confirmed Crossland’s status as non-recoverable.
DPAA historians have been conducting in-depth research into Soldiers missing from combat around Althorn, and believe that Unknown X-535, recovered from Althron and interred at Normandy American Cemetery, could be associated with Crossland. Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission workers exhumed X-535 in July 2022 and transferred the remains to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Crossland’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Crossland will be buried March 14, 2025, in his hometown.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Edward S. Kovaleski, 25, of Southbridge, Massachusetts, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Kovaleski’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In spring 1945, Kovaleski was assigned to the 760th Bombardment Squadron, 460th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force, in the European and Mediterranean Theater of World War II. On April 26, Kovaleski, an engineer and ball turret gunner on board the B-24J Liberator Seldom Available, was killed when his plane crashed near Hüttenberg, Austria, while enroute to their target bombing location in northern Italy.
Witnesses from other planes and surviving crewmembers reported the Seldom Available experienced mechanical failure, forcing a spiraling descent and eventual crash. Prior to the explosion, the pilot gave the order to evacuate the aircraft at roughly 25,000 feet. Eight crewmembers survived the incident, but Kovaleski was not accounted for. There was no witness of any deployed parachute following the crash, and it was believed he was still in the plane when it crashed. Kovaleski’s remains were not recovered, and he was subsequently declared missing in action.
In 2017, DPAA researchers investigated a suspected crash site near Sankt Johann am Pressen, Karnten, Austria, after an independent researcher provided a lead which pointed to a possible crashed U.S. aircraft. Between 2021 and 2022, the crash site and a suspected nearby burial location were excavated by a DPAA partner organization.
Evidence recovered from the site, believed to be associated with Kovaleski, was then sent to the DPAA laboratory for examination and identification.
Kovaleski’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Firenze, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Kovaleski will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Navy Seaman 2nd Class John C. Auld, 23, of Newcastle, England, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
DPAA was only recently made aware of Auld’s family receiving their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Auld 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 Auld.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries on Oahu.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the dentifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time.
The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Auld.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Auld’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Auld will be buried on Dec. 6, 2024, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
December 4
U.S. Army Warrant Officer Albert R. Trudeau, 22, of Teaneck, New Jersey, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for.
Trudeau’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In October 1971, Trudeau was assigned to the 68th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group. On Oct. 26, Trudeau was serving as the pilot of a CH-47B “Chinook” helicopter when it went down over water in bad weather while flying from Tuy Hoa to Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. Remains of four of the 10 Soldiers on board were recovered during search and rescue operations following the crash, but Trudeau was not accounted for.
An unsuccessful recovery attempt was made in 1974 when divers from the Joint Casualty Resolution Center dove on what was believed to be the crash site. A number of investigation and recovery efforts took place between 1994 and 2021, with a June 2021 recovery mission finding possible osseous remains and material evidence, not linked to Trudeau.
From May 7 to July 9, 2024, a DPAA Underwater Recovery Team excavated an aircraft wreck site which correlated to Trudeau’s crash site. The team excavated roughly 336 square meters of underwater surface area, which resulted in the recovery of possible osseous remains, possible life support equipment, and various other identification media. All evidence was collected and turned over to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
Trudeau’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Trudeau will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on a date to be determined.
November 26,
U.S. Army Cpl. Waymon Slaten, 18, of Arab, Alabama, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Slaten’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In September 1950, Slaten was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Sept. 1, 1950, after his unit engaged in combat actions with the enemy on Hill 209, west of Yongsan, South Korea. Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time.
The exact circumstances of his death were unknown, and the U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death of December 31, 1953.
On Oct. 22, 1950, American Graves Registration Service recovered Unknown Remains X-256 from the ground surface at the base of Hill 209, approximately 11 miles west of Yongsan, where Slaten was reported missing. However, those remains could not be identified as Slaten at the time, and they were subsequently buried as an unknown in the United Nations Military Cemetery, Tanggok, South Korea.
The remains were repatriated to the United States and interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In May 2021, during phase 3 of DPAA's Korean War Disinterment Project, Unknown X-256 was disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Slaten’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Slaten will be buried in his hometown on Jan. 13, 2025.
Airman
November 26
U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Sanford G. Roy, 31, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Roy’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In spring 1944, Roy was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On April 8, Roy, a waist gunner onboard a B-24H “Liberator” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel.
The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all nine crewmembers, including Roy, were unaccounted for following the war.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the Salzwedel and Wistedt areas of Germany. German forces had maintained accurate documentation (Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen, or KU) of American aircraft shoot-downs, with several reports indicating B-24s crashing in the area. However, AGRC was unable to associate any KU reports with Little Joe and investigators were unable to locate any crash or burial sites associated with the loss.In 2015, an independent research group, Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team (MAACRT), contacted DPAA historians with new information related to a possible crash site near Wistedt, Germany.
Interviews with elderly local residents indicated there were two crash sites, but only one was recovered by American forces following the war. Investigators located the second crash site and were able to recover various pieces of wreckage. Possible osseous remains were also located and transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. At the time, no matches could be made with any Unknowns and further investigations were scheduled.
Between 2021 and 2023, DPAA investigators returned to the crash site and continued investigations, then excavations and recoveries. By the end of November 2023, all evidence, including possible osseous remains and possible life support equipment, had been recovered and returned to the DPAA laboratory.
Roy’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Roy will be buried in his hometown on the 81st anniversary of his loss, April 8, 2025.
November 25,
U.S. Army Cpl. Howard A. Troup, 29, from Schenley, Pennsylvania killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the fall of 1950, Troup was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
He went missing in action during a battle in the vicinity of Hill 409, near Am-sin, South Korea, when enemy forces attacked and overran his company’s defensive positions on Sept. 1.
A statement from a member of his unit said he was likely killed by a grenade during an all-out human-wave assault.
The Army issued a presumptive finding of death in December 1953.
Corporal Troup is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Pilot
November 22
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. George F. Wilson, Jr., 22, from California, killed during World War II, was accounted for Nov. 21, 2024.
In July 1944, Wilson was assigned to the 601st Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater.
On July 8, Wilson, the pilot of a B-17G “Flying
Fortress” bomber, was killed when his aircraft crashed near Monchy-Cayeux,
France, after being hit by antiaircraft fire. Surviving crew members reported
Wilson had been hit by flak and was still on board when the aircraft crashed.
It is unknown whether he successfully bailed out of the aircraft
before it crashed.
Beginning in
1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) searched for and recovered
fallen American personnel in the European Theater.
They received information from several of Wilson’s crew members detailing the crash, but there is no evidence the crash site was ever visited.
No recovered Unknowns were ever associated with Wilson, and he was declared non-recoverable in 1951.
First Lieutenant Wilson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.
November 20
U.S. Army Air Force Technical Sgt. Lynn M. Farnham, 20, of Phoenix, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Farnham’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In early 1944, Farnham was assigned to the 346th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force in the European Theater. On Feb. 25, Farnham, the flight engineer onboard a B-17G “Flying Fortress,” was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Regensburg, Germany.
Eight of the ten crewmembers bailed out of the aircraft which crash outside of Langquaid, Germany. They reported seeing Farnham and another crewman dead near the co-pilots seat. Farnham’s body was not immediately recovered, and a report of death was finally issued on Aug. 10, 1945.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the area around Langquaid, Germany.
An investigation team disinterred a set of unidentified remains, Unknown X-6271 St. Avold (X-6271), from a cemetery in the nearby village of Paring. At the time, investigators were unable to completely identify the recovered remains, which were transferred to St. Avold, France for identification, and the Lorraine American Cemetery for interment.
In 2013, a DPAA investigation team went to Langquaid, Germany, and found wreckage consistent with an aircraft at the site. Returning in March 2019, another DPAA team conducted a site survey and met with local residents, including the town priest. Historical church records obtained document the X-6271 remains were recovered from a bomber crash on Feb. 25, 1944, and buried in the Paring cemetery.
In June 2023, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel exhumed Unknown X-6271 from Lorraine American Cemetery, France. X-6271 was then transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
Farnham’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Farnham will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on a date to be determined.
November 20,
U.S. Army Cpl. John B. Miller, 22, of Mullins, South Carolina, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Miller’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In November 1950, Miller was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
In the fall of 1953, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15743. Those remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites.
None of the remains could be positivity identified as Miller. Those unidentified remains were subsequently buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In April 2021, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-15743 as part of the Korean War disinterment project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Miller’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Miller will be buried in Florence, South Carolina, on Dec. 6, 2024.
November 20
U.S. Army Cpl. Paul E. Hoots, 25, from Galesburg, Illinois killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Hoots was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Ch’onan, South Korea, on July 7.
At the time, the circumstances for his loss were not immediately recorded, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war.
The Army issued a finding of Missing In Action on July 8, 1950.In 1952, the American Graves Registration Service Group (AGRSG), the unit tasked with finding and identifying those missing during the war, searched the area where Hoots went missing and was unable to locate remains that could be identified as him.
The Army issued a presumptive finding of death for Hoots on Dec. 31, 1953.
Corporal Hoots is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC,
November 18
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. William Scott, 21, of Passaic, New Jersey, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
DPAA recently received notification of the Scott family’s full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details can be shared.
In the summer of 1943, Scott was assigned to the 68th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy),44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Scott was serving as the navigator was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.
Scott’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Scott will be buried in Wrightstown, New Jersey, on Dec. 9, 2024
Soldier
November 18
U.S. Army Private Jacob Gutterman, 24, of New York City, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Gutterman’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In summer 1942, Gutterman was a member of the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Gutterman was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Gutterman died July 16, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 316.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Eleven of the sets of remains from Common Grave 316 were identified, while the remaining 17 were declared unidentifiable.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 316 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Gutterman’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Pvt. Gutterman is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pvt. Gutterman will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on a date to be determined.
Soldier
November 18
U.S. Army Private James S. Mitchell, 25, of Chico, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Mitchell’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1941, Mitchell was a member of Company B, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Mitchell was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Mitchell died Jan. 7, 1943, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 816.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. One set of remains from Common Grave 816 was identified, while the remaining three were declared unidentifiable.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 816 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Mitchell’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Mitchell is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Mitchell’s funeral location and date have yet to be determined.
November 15
U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Yuen Hop, 20, of Sebastopol, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Hop’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1944, Hop was assigned to the 368th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 1st Bombardment Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater. On December 29, Hop, a waist gunner onboard a B-17G “Flying Fortress” became missing in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Bingen, Germany.
All crewmembers were able to bail out of the stricken aircraft, and only one airman was found dead by German forces near the crash site. Five men were captured and processed into the German prisoner of war (POW) camp system, ultimately surviving the war.
Hop and two other crewmembers were unaccounted for, and there was no record of them being held as POWs.
In 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating several crash sites from downed aircraft of the Bingen air raid. Local German citizens were interviewed, and several accounts were recorded seeing American troops landing by parachutes.
One airman was recovered by a local civilian who took him in and provided aid, but the airman was ultimately taken into custody by German military authorities. Hop and the third missing airman were not accounted for. Investigations continued for several years, but by April 1950 AGRC exhausted all efforts to recover these missing men and issued a recommendation they be declared non-recoverable.
In 2013, DPAA researchers working in collaboration with local Germans recovered documents from the state archive at Koblenz, which appeared to contain information on the loss of three captured airmen. These documents referenced a War Crimes case (12-1254) which indicated Hop was captured and killed by German SS troops near the town of Kamp-Bornhofen, and buried in the local cemetery there. Neither Hop, nor his two missing crewmates were ever officially registered as POWs, which explains why American investigators were unable to ascertain their fate during or after the war.
Between May 2021 and August 2022, DPAA teams began excavation of a suspected burial site in the Kamp-Bornhofen Cemetery, where the three airmen are believed to be buried. Under the supervision and direction of two Scientific Recovery Experts, the team recovered possible osseous remains and associated materials. These items were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
Hop’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hop’s funeral location and date have yet to be determined.
November 15
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Gordon N. Larson, 22, of Seattle, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Larson’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details can be shared.
In late 1942, Larson was a member of Battery B, 59th Coast Artillery Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Larson was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Larson died Nov. 14, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 723.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila.
In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Four of the sets of remains from Common Grave 723 were identified, while the remaining seven were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.In June 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 723 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Larson’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Sgt. Larson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Larson’s funeral location and date have yet to be determined.
November 15
U.S. Army Pvt. Herber R. Worley, 21, of Bell, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Worley’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details can be shared.
In late 1941, Worley was a member of 1st Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Worley was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Worley died June 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 407.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them.
Sixteen of the 25 sets of remains from Common Grave 407 were identified, while the remaining nine were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In Nov. 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 407 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Worley’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Worley is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Worley will be buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu on a date to be determined.
Airman
November 15
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly Jr., 21, of Livermore, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Kelly’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In March 1944, Kelly was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. On the morning of March 11, Kelly, the bombardier onboard a B-24D “Liberator” Heaven Can Wait departed Nadzab Strip #1, Papua New Guinea, as part of a bombing mission against enemy positions at Boram Airfield, and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea.
Observers from other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly. Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing down into the water. It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing un-dropped ordnance to explode. Several aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating any possible survivors, but none could be seen.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. In March 1950, a board of AGRS officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains of Kelly and the other Heaven Can Wait crew members. They were designated as non-recoverable.
Between 2013 and 2017, the Kelly family undertook a dedicated archival research effort to collect historical documents and eyewitness accounts of the loss of the Heaven Can Wait crew. The family worked with Dr. Scott Althaus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to complete this effort and provided this documentation. In October 2017, Project Recover, a DPAA partner organization, located the wreckage of a B-24 aircraft in Hansa Bay while making sonar scans as part of a unilateral remote sensing survey effort.
In 2019, a DPAA underwater investigation team (UIT) conducted several surveys of the wreckage, performing visual inspections and clearing the site of any unexploded ordnance.
From March 9 through April 13, 2023, an underwater recovery team (RT-U) excavated the crash site, where they recovered possible osseous materials and various material evidence, to include life support equipment and identification tags. The recovered evidence was sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis.
Kelly’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Kelly will be buried on May 26, 2025, in his hometown.
November 15
U.S. Army Cpl. Walter L. Clark, 28, of Santa Rosa, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Clark’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1941, Clark was a member of 19th Quartermaster Truck Company, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Clark was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Clark died Nov. 1, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 704.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Two of the sets of remains from Common Grave 704 were identified, while the remaining 8 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 704 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Clark’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Clark is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Clark will be buried in Dixon, California, on a date to be determined.
November 14
U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Ralph L. Mourer, 23, of Wichita, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Mourer’s family only recently received their full briefing on his identification, which is why this release is going out now.
In spring 1944, Mourer was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater. On April 8, Mourer, the radio operator onboard a B-24H “Liberator,” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel. The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all ten crewmembers, including Mourer, were unaccounted for following the war.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the Salzwedel and Wistedt areas of Germany. German forces had maintained accurate documentation (Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen, or KU reports) of American aircraft shoot-downs, with several reports indicating B-24s crashing in the area. However, AGRC was unable to associate any KU reports with Little Joe and investigators were unable to locate any crash or burial sites associated with the loss.
In 2015, an independent research group, Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team (MAACRT), contacted DPAA historians with new information related to a possible crash site near Wistedt, Germany. Interviews with elderly local residents indicated there were two crash sites, but only one was recovered by American forces following the war. Investigators located the second crash site and were able to recover various pieces of wreckage. Possible osseous remains were also located and transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. At the time, no matches could be made with any Unknowns and further investigations were scheduled.
Between 2021 and 2023, DPAA investigators returned to the crash site and continued investigations, and then excavations and recoveries. By the end of November 2023, all evidence, including possible osseous remains and possible life support equipment, had been recovered and returned to the DPAA laboratory.
Mourer’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Mourer will be buried in Adrian, Michigan, in the spring of 2025.
November 13
U.S. Army Air Force Sgt. James W. Swartz, 21, of Webberville, Michigan, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1942, Swartz was a member of 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Swartz was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Swartz died Sept. 23, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 434.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Four of the sets of remains from Common Grave 434 were identified, while the remaining seven were declared unidentifiable.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 434 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Swartz’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Today, Sgt. Swartz is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Swartz will be buried in Williamstown Township, Michigan, in April 2025.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. 1st Class Bernard J. Calvi, 23, of North Adams, Massachusetts, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Calvi was a member of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Calvi was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Calvi died July 16, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 316.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Eleven of the sets of remains from Common Grave 316 were identified, while the remaining 17 were declared unidentifiable.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 316 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Calvi’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Today, Calvi is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Calvi will be buried in his hometown on Dec. 9, 2024.
November 8
Army Master Sgt. Wallace Simmons Jr., 36, of Indianapolis, Indiana, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Simmons was a member of Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Dec. 6, 1950, after his unit was engaged with enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. The exact circumstances of his loss are not historically available, and there was never a record he was held captive as a POW.
On July 27, 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Simmons’ name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Simmons will be buried in Indianapolis, Indiana, on a date to be determined.
Army Corporal William Colby, 19, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Colby was a member of Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, after his unit was attacked by Chinese People’s Army forces as the 7th Infantry Division attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, Colby could not be recovered and he was reported Missing In Action. Absent evidence of this continued survival, the U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.On July 27, 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War.
The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Colby’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and isotope analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Colby’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Colby will be buried in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a date to be determined.
Army Corporal Howard Godwin Jr., 22, of Grafton, West Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Godwin was a member of A Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 20 while fighting North Korean forces in the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea. He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that could be identified as Godwin. He was declared non-recoverable in January 1956.On January 1, 1951, three sets of remains were recovered roughly three miles northwest of Taejon near where Cpl. Godwin’s unit was fighting.
Two of the three remains were identified at the time, but investigators could not make a scientific identification of the third. Those remains were designated Unknown X-351 Tanggok and were later transported with all of the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, DPAA historians and anthropologists proposed a plan to disinter and identify the 652 Korean War unknown burials from the Punchbowl. X-351 was disinterred July 15, 2019, as part of Phase 1 of the Korean War Identification Project and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory.
Godwin’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monument Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Godwin will be buried in Grafton, West Virginia, on Nov. 15, 2024.
U.S. Army Cpl. Ernest H. Ulrich, from Jefferson County, Texas who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Ulrich was a member of Medical Department, 200th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Ulrich was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Ernest H Ulrich is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing Manila American Cemetery Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Basil M. Cook, 31, of Hinton, West Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Cook was assigned to Company H, 3rd Battalion, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, as the driver of an M4 Sherman tank. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hücheln, Germany, when his tank ran over a mine. The explosion is believed to have killed Cook instantaneously. His remains were not immediately recovered or identified after the fighting.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted an investigation in the Hücheln area in September 1948. Town locals were interviewed, but there were no reports of deceased American servicemembers in the area. All efforts to locate Cook proved unsuccessful at the time.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hücheln area in 2020, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-1239 Margraten, recovered from a burned-out tank one mile northeast of in Hücheln in August 1945 possibly belonged to Cook. The remains, which had been buried in Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, were disinterred in July 2022 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Cook’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margarten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cook will be buried in Hinton, West Virginia, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pvt. Jeremiah P. Mahoney, 19, of Chicago, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
During World War II, Mahoney was assigned to Anti-Tank Company, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II. Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive, known as Operation NORDWIND, in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France.
The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Anti-Tank Company resupplied and reinforced the 157th Infantry Regiment near the village of Reipertswiller.
At some point on Jan. 17, Mahoney was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his unit could not recover his body as it was forced to withdraw from the area. With no record of German forces capturing Mahoney, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Finding of Death” in January 1946.Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began looking for missing American personnel in the Reipertswiller area.
In August 1947, graves registration personnel recovered a set of remains, which they designated X-6379 Neuville (X-6379), from the Reipertswiller Forest. Analysts assessed the remains, along with clothing and equipment recovered with the body, but they were unable to identify X-6379. In 1949, the AGRC interred the Unknown in U.S. Military Cemetery (USMC) Neuville, Neupré, Belgium (today, Ardennes American Cemetery).
DPAA historians have been conducting in-depth research into Soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth and Reipertswiller, and believe that Unknown X-6379 could be associated with Mahoney. Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission workers exhumed X-6379 in August 2022 and transferred the remains to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Mahoney’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Mahoney will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Gordon N. Larson, from Josephine County, Oregon who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Larson was a member of Battery B, 59th Coast Artillery Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Private First Class Larson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
U.S. Army Tech Sgt. Thomas O. Moss, 31, of Brim, Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Moss was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His battalion had captured the town of Kommerscheidt, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest. A series of heavy German counterattacks eventually forced his battalion to withdraw. Moss was reported killed in action on Nov. 7., while fighting enemy forces at Kommerscheidt. His remains could not be recovered after the attack.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950 but were unable to recover or identify Moss’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1951.While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one of three sets of unidentified remains, designated X-6566, X-6567 and X-6568, recovered from a mass grave at Kommerscheidt in April 1946, possibly belonged to Moss.
The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1949, were disinterred in Aug. 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Moss’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Plombières, Belgium, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Moss will be buried in Salisbury, North Carolina, on Nov. 22, 2024
Airman
U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. Bernard J. Curran, 20, of Lowell, Massachusetts, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Curran was a member of 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Curran was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Curran died Nov. 14, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 723.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila.
In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Four of the sets of remains from Common Grave 723 were identified, while the remaining seven were declared unidentifiable.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In June 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 723 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Curran’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Curran is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Curran will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Cpl. Frederick Carrino, Berkeley, 18, Missouri missing during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In December 1950, Cpl. Carrino was assigned to B Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, in the Korean theater.
He was reported missing in action (MIA) after his unit was forced to retreat from Hagaru-ri, North Korea, after the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
The U.S. Army could not establish that Cpl. Carrino was ever held as a prisoner of war. This is an initial release.
The complete accounting of Carrino's case will be published once the family received their full briefing.
He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953.
U.S. Army Cpl. John Brooks Miller, 22, Brunswick County, North Carolina killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In November 1950, Miller was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was killed in action on or around November 30, 1950, as his unit withdrew from positions near Sinhung-ri, North Korea, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after his unit was attacked by Chinese People's Volunteer Army as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
He was buried near the area of his loss, but his remains were not returned to the U.S. immediately following the war.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Corporal Kidd is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. William W. Bradner, 29, from Nemaha County, Nebraska who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Bradner was a member of the 28th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941.
He was captured following the American surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, and forced on the Bataan Death March. He was ultimately interned in the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of dysentery on November 15, 1942. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
He became a POW of the Japanese Army in the "Fall Of The Philippines" in May, 1942.
William "Died While A POW" of the Japanese Army at an unstated POW Camp in the Philippines during the war.
U.S. Army Air Forces Corporal Melvin L. Huff, 19, of Iowa Falls, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Huff was assigned to 360th Service Group, Combat Replacement Training Center, Far East Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat near Wewak, Territory of New Guinea, Huff’s unit attacked enemy defensive positions on nearby Cape Wom.
Huff, an arial gunner, was reported as missing in action on Jan. 20, when friendly forces lost contact with the A-20G Havoc bomber he was aboard.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. In June 1949, a board of AGRS officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains of Huff and the other two crew members. They were designated as non-recoverable.
DPAA predecessor organizations began researching and recovering service members from Papua New Guinea in the early 1980s. In December 2011, an Australian Defence Force officer reported seeing an aircraft crash site in a swap near Cape Wom, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. A local guide from the nearby Wom Village had discovered the site roughly six months prior and stated human remains had been seen in the crash.
Between July 2015 and May 2016, DPAA personnel interviewed locals, collected crash materials and various life support items, and collected possible osseous remains. In late 2022, a DPAA Underwater Recovery Team conducted operations at the site, and recovered possible human remains, material evidence, and other life support equipment. The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis.
To identify Huff’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence.
Huff’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Huff will be buried in Iowa Falls, Iowa, on a date to be determined
Seaman 1st Class (S1c) Aaron L. McMurtrey, 27, of Durant, Oklahoma, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, McMurtrey was assigned to the battleship USS California, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS California sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it catch fire and slowly flood.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 103 crewmen, including McMurtrey. From December 1941 to April 1942, 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. In addition to the 42 casualties from the USS California initially identified after the attack, the laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 39 men from the USS California at that time.
The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified the remains of the unresolved crew members, including McMurtrey, as non-recoverable.In 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed the 25 USS California Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
McMurtrey’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
McMurtrey will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Clem D. McDuffie, 18, of Hamlet, North Carolina, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the winter of 1950, McDuffie was a member of Item Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Nov. 30 after his unit was attacked by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15670 Operation Glory.
The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as McDuffie and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In March 2021, DPAA disinterred X-15670 as part of Phase 3 of the Korean War disinterment project. X-15670 was accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
McDuffie’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
McDuffie will be buried in Hamlet, North Carolina, on Nov. 30, 2024.
U.S. Army Sgt. David E. Hardy, from Rockingham, North Carolina who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Hardy was a member of Headquarters Battery, 82nd Anti-Aircract Artillery – Automatic Weapons Battalion, Division Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army.
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign was a decisive battle in the Korean War. On 27 November, the Chinese Army surprised UN Forces at the Chosin Reservoir area. A brutal 17-day battle in freezing weather and rough terrain soon followed. In the period between 27 November and 13 December 1950, 30,000 United Nations troops were encircled and attacked by approximately 120,000 Chinese troops.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after his unit attempted to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on.
In 1953, a POW from Hardy’s unit was returned during Operation Big Switch, where he reported Hardy had been a prisoner of war and died on Feb. 28, 1951, at Prisoner of War Camp #5.
Sergeant Hardy is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
U.S. Army Private Joseph M. Cocco, 22, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, missing in action during World War II, was accounted for.
In September 1943, Cocco was assigned to the Company C, 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion in the Mediterranean Theater in World War II. He landed in Italy on Sept. 9 as part of Operation AVALANCHE, the amphibious invasion of the Italian peninsula near Salerno. On Sept. 11, Cocco was reported killed in action in the vicinity of the Chiunzi Pass, north of Maiori, Italy. His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the Mediterranean Theater. In 1947, AGRS investigators located an isolated burial site on the north slope of Monte di Chiunzi, where they recovered a set of remains designated as X-146. Although X-146 was initially believed to be Cocco, following recovery, investigators didn’t have enough identifying data or circumstantial information about Cocco’s loss to positively ID the remains. X-146 was interred at U.S. Military Cemetery Nettuno, which is now Sicily-Rome American Cemetery.
In 2019, while studying unresolved American losses from Operation Avalanche, a DPAA historian compiled information from archival documents and secondary sources that placed Cocco’s death at a forward observation post on the north slope of Monte di Chiunzi, the same area where X-146 was recovered.
The remains which had been buried at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy in 1948, were disinterred in March 2022 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Cocco’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cocco will be buried in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, in mid-November 2024.
U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas J. O’Brien, 23, New York City, N.Y. who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, O’Brien was a member of Headquarters Battery, 90th Field Artillery Battalion, Division Artillery, 25th Infantry Division.
He was reported killed in action by tank fire on Oct. 26, 1950, after his unit was attacked by Korean People’s Army (KPA) forces while moving through the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).
Following the end of hostilities, there was no information to suggest O’Brien was being held as a prisoner of war, and there was no body recovered
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Leon R. Karwacki, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1944, Karwacki was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 36th Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division.
In mid-September, his battalion advanced against enemy forces around Stolberg, Germany, between Aachen and the Hurtgen Forest.
He was killed on Sept. 17, during an attack near the Mausbach village.
Karwacki’s body could not be recovered due to the intensity of enemy fire
U.S. Army Sgt. Simon Garelick, Dallas county, Missouri who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Sergeant Simon Garelick joined the U.S. Army from Missouri and was a member of Headquarters Company, Philippine Department, during World War II.
He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942 and died of dysentery on November 4, 1942 at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province.
In late 1941, Garelick was a member of Headquarters Company, Philippines Department in the Philippines during World War II, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Simon Garelick is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Merchant Marine
Merchant Marine Wiper Elvis N. Spotts, 18, of Kansas City, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
n February 1944, Spotts was a crew member of the SS Cape Isabel, part of a convoy of three ships including the USS Grayson and the SS Cape Fear. On Feb. 22, 1944, the ships were approximately 12 miles off the coast of Tarawa Atoll. The two Merchant Marine vessels were bringing supplies to Betio Island. Spotts was electrocuted during bilge maintenance. He was unable to be revived.
On Feb. 23, 1944, Spotts was buried with military honors in the U.S. Marine Cemetery on Betio Island.
In the aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in and after 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 Spotts’ remains were not identified and he was declared non-recoverable.
In 2017, members of History Flight, Inc., a non-profit organization, discovered a coffin buried in Cemetery #33 on Betio, which contained possible osseous remains. These Unknown remains were transferred to the DPAA laboratory for examination and identification.
Spotts’ name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Spotts will be buried in Armstrong, Missouri, on Nov. 9, 2024.
Pilot
U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Larry R. Kilpatrick, 28, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, killed during Vietnam was accounted for.
In June 1972, Kilpatrick was a member of Attack Squadron One Hundred Five (VA-105), on board the USS Saratoga (CVA-60), flying an A-7A “Corsair II” aircraft in a flight of two on a night armed reconnaissance mission over northern Vietnam. Kilpatrick’s wingman lost radio contact with him outside of Ha Tinh City, after he announced he had sighted a target and was commencing an attack. After daybreak, search and rescue aircraft observed remnants of a parachute near Kilpatrick’s last known location, but could not identify it as Kilpatrick’s. The search and rescue team was unable to locate any aircraft wreckage.
On June 19, 1972, a Radio Hanoi broadcast claimed a shoot-down of four aircraft in the previous two days. According to the report, on June 18, an A-7 was shot down. Records indicated that Kilpatrick’s A-7A was the only aircraft of that kind lost during that period.
In 1996, a joint team excavated the crash site, recovering aircraft wreckage consistent with an A-7 aircraft, but no remains were located. In the following years, excavation of the crash site was expanded, with teams recovering possible osseous remains, as well as life support items. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for processing and identification.
To identify Kilpatrick’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence recovered from the crash site.
Kilpatrick’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Kilpatrick will be buried in Gwinnett County, Georgia, on Nov. 15, 2024.
Soldier
Army First Lieutenant Herman J. Sundstad, 26, of Perley, Minnesota, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1944, Sundstad was a member of the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), also known as Merrill’s Marauders. On June 5, Sundstad’s unit, referred to as “Task Force Galahad”, was engaged with Japanese forces in the Battle of Myitkyina, in Burma.
Historical records of Sundstad’s assigned unit were lost, but he was believed to be a member of 3rd Battalion. At the time of his loss, 3rd Battalion was engaging an overwhelming enemy force near the village of Namkwi. The exact circumstances of his death were not recorded, and his remains were not accounted for during or after the war.In the fall of 1944, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel recovered a set of unknown remains, designated X-75 Kalaikunda, in the vicinity of Myitkyina.
The remains were examined at U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda, India, but investigators were unable to scientifically identify them. X-75, and other Unknowns from Myitkyina, were transferred and interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In 2021, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-75 from the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis.
Sundstad’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Sundstad will be buried in Lafayette, California, on Nov. 11, 2024
Soldier
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Kenneth D. Burgess, 29, from Muhlenberg county, Kentucky missing in action during World War II, was accounted for.
In September 1943, Burgess was assigned to Company B, 4th Ranger Battalion “Darby’s Rangers” in the Mediterranean Theater in World War II.
On Sept. 25, Burgess was reported killed in action in the vicinity of the Sala, Italy, during Operation Avalanche.
His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war.
The War Department declared him non-recoverable on May 10, 1948.
Kenneth Dunbar Burgess is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy.
Army Sgt. Clayton M. Pierce, 41, of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Pierce was a member of D Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after his unit was engaged with enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. The exact circumstances of his loss are not historically available, and there was never a record he was held captive as a POW.
On July 27, 2018 North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Pierce’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and isotope analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Pierce’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pierce will be buried in Rossiter, Pennsylvania, in late October, 2024.
Soldier
U.S. Army Private James S. Mitchell, from Glenn County, California who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Mitchell was a member of Company B, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Mitchell was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Private Mitchell is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Airman
October 4
U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. James H. Murray, from California who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Murray was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Murray was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Sergeant Murray is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
U.S. Army Pvt. Harland J. Hennessey, 24, from Boonville, New York who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In summer 1942, Hennessey was a member of the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Hennessey was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Private Hennessey is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Tanker
U.S. Army Pvt. James G. Loterbaugh, 35, from Nelsonville, Ohio killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December 1944, Loterbaugh was assigned to Company C, 774th Tank Battalion, as a crewmember on an M4 “Sherman” tank. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Strass, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when his tank was hit by heavy artillery and anti-tank fire.
Due to the speed and intensity of the fighting, the Company C commander was unable to maintain an accurate count of his troops.
By mid-day of Dec. 11, it is believed the entire platoon, including Loterbaugh’s tank, was Missing in Action.
The Germans never reported Loterbaugh as a prisoner of war.
The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death in December 1945
Private Loterbaugh is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Estle E. Corvin, from Virginia killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Corvin was assigned to Company K, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II.
Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND.
The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company K found itself assigned to resupply and reinforce Allied forces during the Battle of Reipertswiller.
At some point on Jan. 21, Corvin was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered while Company K was forced to withdraw from the area.
With no record of German forces capturing Corvin, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Finding of Death” in January 1946.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Willard H. Edwards, 20, Wise County, Virginia killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the winter of 1950, Edwards was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 5 after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign was a decisive battle in the Korean War. On 27 November, the Chinese Army surprised UN Forces at the Chosin Reservoir area. A brutal 17-day battle in freezing weather and rough terrain soon followed. In the period between 27 November and 13 December 1950, 30,000 United Nations troops were encircled and attacked by approximately 120,000 Chinese troops.
Willard H Edwards is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. This is an American Battle
Willard is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces Corporal Glenn H. Hodak, 23, from Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In May 1945, Hodak was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, when the B-29 “Superfortress” he was serving aboard was shot down on a mission to Tokyo, Japan.
Initially reported as missing in action, investigators later learned that Hodak was captured and perished in the Tokyo Prison Fire on May 26, 1945.
His remains were not immediately recovered or identified after the war.
Glenn H Hodak is memorialized at Courts of the Missing, Court 7 Honolulu Memorial National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Honolulu, Hawaii.
U.S. Army Sgt. Jack Zarifian, 19, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In April 1945, Zarifian was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Buchhof, Germany, when he was reported killed in action after being struck by a Nebelwerfer rocket on Apr. 6. His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against German forces holding the town.
Zarifian’s remains were not accounted for during or after the war, and he was not reported as being captured by German forces.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. Several recovery teams visited Buchhof and spoke with locals about missing troops. Villagers explained that several U.S. servicemembers had been buried in their cemetery or within the community, but that American units had later exhumed the dead and took their bodies back to American cemeteries. Zarifian was not among those recovered.
On October 18, 2023, DPAA officials in based in Germany received phone calls from police officers at Mosbach and Heilbronn with reports regarding possible American remains discovered near Buchhof.
Explosive ordnance disposal technicians had located what they believed to be human remains and World War II era U.S. equipment and clothing, while clearing a construction site for an underground electrical power line northwest of the village.
Excavation of the site revealed human remains, material evidence consistent with items utilized by U.S. personnel during World War II, and various personal items believed to belong to Zarifian. The evidence was transferred into the custody of the DPAA and accessioned into the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Zarifian’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and dental analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and Autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Zarifian’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Zarifian will be buried in Providence, Rhode Island, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Private Rodger D. Andrews, 19, of Gravette, Arkansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, Andrews was assigned to Company C, 37th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater during World War II. On the morning of June 6, 1944, British, Canadian, and American armed forces came ashore on the beaches of Normandy, France, during Operation OVERLORD. On the beach code-named "Omaha," the immediate objectives of engineers like Andrews were to clear German defenses, obstacles, and mines, then establish exit roads off the beach for the invading ground troops and armored vehicles.
Company C’s efforts enabled the first troops to move off the beach and press the fight into fortified German positions further inland. At some point during the invasion, Andrews was killed but due to the chaos of battle and intensity of the fighting, it was unclear what happened to him. Even after Allied forces secured Omaha Beach, Andrews' remains were not identified.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began looking for missing American personnel in the Normandy area. Among the Unknowns AGRC teams recovered from Omaha Beach was a set of remains, designated X-48 St. Laurent (X-48), that were found to be wearing a belt with the initials "R.D.A.," which potentially associated with Andrews. However, because items of clothing could have been traded amongst different servicemembers and due to physical similarities between X-48 and other missing servicemembers being too close for officials to make a definite association, the AGRC was unable to identify the remains.
X-48 was ultimately interred as an Unknown on Dec. 11, 1948, in the U.S. Military Cemetery St. Laurent, known today as Normandy American Cemetery.
In December 2014, DPAA received a request from the Andrews family to devote more time to locating their loved one. Historians reviewing other Omaha Beach losses reassessed the circumstances of Andrews’ death, noting the initials on the belt found with X-48 were a possible association. In addition, historians concluded other clothing items the Unknown was wearing could have been issued to a member of a unit like the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion.
After additional historical and scientific comparisons between the personnel data of missing servicemembers from Omaha Beach and the attributes of X-48, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission workers exhumed the Unknown in March 2019 and transferred the remains to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Andrews’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Andrews will be buried on a date to be later determined.
U.S. Army Sgt. Howard L. Hasselkus,
Elmore, 26, Ohio
who was captured and
died as a prisoner of war during World War II,
was accounted for.
In late 1941, Hasselkus was a member of the 192nd Tank Battalion, when Japanese
forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued
until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor
Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW
camps. Hasselkus was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan
surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death
March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished
in this camp during the war.
It is known that Howard was admitted to the
camp’s hospital on Thursday, August 6, 1942, suffering from malaria, scurvy, and
pellagra.
According to U. S. Army records, Sgt.
Howard L. Hasselkus died on Sunday, November 22, 1942, at approximately 11 p.m.
at Cabanatuan Prison Camp from malaria and buried in Grave 807 in the camp with
other POWs who died that date.
The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
in the Philippines is located in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Metro Manila,
within the boundaries of the former Fort William McKinley.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Eugene J. Darrigan, 26, Dutchess County, New York killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In March 1944, Darrigan was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea.
On the morning of March 11, Darrigan, the radio operator onboard a B-24D “Liberator” Heaven Can Wait departed Nadzab Strip #1, Papua New Guinea, as part of a bombing mission against enemy positions at Boram Airfield, and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea.
Observers from other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly.
Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing down into the water.
It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing un-dropped ordnance to explode. Several aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating any possible survivors, but none could be seen.
Eugene J Darrigan is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Donald W. Sheppick, 26, Washington County, Pennsylvania killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In March 1944, Sheppick was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea.
On the morning of March 11, Sheppick, the navigator onboard a B-24D “Liberator” Heaven Can Wait departed Nadzab Strip #1, Papua New Guinea, as part of a bombing mission against enemy positions at Boram Airfield, and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea.
Observers from other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly.
Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing down into the water.
It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing un-dropped ordnance to explode. Several aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating any possible survivors, but none could be seen.
Second Lieutenant Sheppick is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Soldier
U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ronald W. Forrester, 25, of Odessa, Texas, killed during Vietnam was accounted for.
In the winter of 1972, Forrester was assigned to Marine All-Weather Attack Squadron 533, Marine Attack Group 12, 1st Marine Air Wing. On Dec. 27, Forrester was piloting an A-6A Intruder, along with his co-pilot, during a nighttime combat mission over the northern part of the Democratic Republic of (North) Vietnam. After entering the target area, Forrester’s aircraft ceased radio communications and never returned to base. Search and rescue teams could not locate any trace of the aircraft or the crew in the Le Thuy District, Quang Binh Province. In September 1978, the Marine Corps changed Capt. Forrester’s initial Missing In Action status to Killed in Action.
After decades of investigation into the incident yielding no results, investigators discovered remains and material evidence which is believed to be associated with both missing aviators. This recovered evidence has been associated with Reference Number (REFNO) 1973 incident and corresponding crash site (VN-02653). To date REFNO 1973 is the only A-6 loss within 30 kilometers of the crash site, which the DPAA Indo-Pacific Directorate believes is a direct correlation to the missing Marines.
Forrester’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.
A
rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Forrester will be buried on Oct. 7, 2024, in Arlington National Cemetery.
Sailor
U.S. Navy Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class (PhM3c) Gilmore V. Rix, Los Angeles, California killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 20 through 23, 1943, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy conducted a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa as part of Operation Galvanic, the Allied capture of the Gilbert Islands. Located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, Tarawa was a crucial stepping stone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan.
The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. The first wave of Marines approaching the shore encountered lower-than-expected tides, forcing them to leave their landing craft on the reef and wade the hundreds of yards to the beach under intense enemy fire.
The heaviest number of U.S. casualties were suffered during this phase of the landing. Eventually, rising tides allowed U.S. warships to maneuver closer to shore and support the troops with effective naval gunfire. More Marines landed on the second day, launching attacks inland from the beaches and seizing the Japanese airfield on the island. However, the enemy launched vicious counterattacks and two more days of intense fighting were needed to secure Betio.
The last enemy strongpoints were taken on the morning of November 23. The fighting on Betio cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties but enabled U.S. forces to press further across the Pacific and yielded valuable tactical lessons that reduced U.S. losses in future amphibious landings..
Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated.
Rix is believed to have been killed while his unit attempted to secure Red Beach 3 on Nov. 20, 1943. His remains were not identified after the war
Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Rix is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
U.S. Army Cpl. Eriverto Ortiz, 27, of Batesville, Texas,
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Sept. 1950, Ortiz was a member of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry
Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit
engaged in defensive actions west of Masan, near the port city of Pusan, South
Korea, on Sept. 22. Due to intense fighting, his body could not be recovered at
that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. With
no further information the Army declared Ortiz nonrecoverable in Jan. 1956.
In early 1951, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily
interred them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Pusan. One set of
remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-32 Pusan,
recovered in the vicinity of Kun’gong-ni, South Korea, near where Ortiz went
missing. A tentative association was made between X-32 and Ortiz, but definitive
proof could not be found, and X-32 was determined to be unidentifiable.
The remains were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Ortiz’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Ortiz will be buried in Elgin, Illinois, on Oct. 28, 2024.
Soldier
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Charles R. Reiser, 20, of Washburn, North Dakota, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, Reiser was a member of Company D, 708th Amphibious Tank Battalion. He was killed June 15 during Operation Forager on the island of Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands. Marines ashore on the island were under constant assault from Japanese mortars, which caused heavy casualties and impeded American’s movements.
The exact cause of Reiser’s death is unknown, but it is believed his unit was providing armor support to the Marines’ initial landing on the beaches. Reiser’s remains were not known to have been accounted for during or after the war. The War Department declared him non-recoverable in June 1949.The American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) searched for and disinterred remains throughout the Pacific theater in an effort to identify fallen service members after the end of the war.
Remains identified as Unknown X-57 were first reported as buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Saipan. However, the AGRS was not able to identify X-57, and the remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines in 1950.After thorough research, DPAA historians concluded X-57 was possibly associated with Reiser.
Reiser’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 still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Reiser will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. John E. Edwinson Jr., 23, Lowell, MA. killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In September 1942, Edwinson was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 7th
Marines, 1st Marine Division. On Sept. 24, he was killed during a firefight with
Japanese forces. His body could not be recovered at the time because of the
fighting.
A burial party was dispatched to the area of “Hill X” and “Hill Y” on Sept. 25 where they quickly buried the Marines who died during the fighting on Sept. 24, including Edwinson, in Grave DIn late 1944 and early 1945, some of these remains were found and buried elsewhere, but there is no record of Edwinson being among those.
American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) began searching Guadalcanal and nearby islands for missing service members in 1947.
"Eddie" was buried in the field, and his remains were declared non-recoverable after the war.
They made several searches through 1949, but were unable to find Edwinson. He was declared non-recoverable in Aug. 1950
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Wildwood Cemetery, Wilmington, Massachusetts
September
19
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class William A. Wheeler, Oakland County, Michigan killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In September 1950, Wheeler was a member of Company H, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
He went missing in action after his unit engaged in combat actions with the enemy along the Naktong River in the vicinity of Yongsan, South Korea, on Sept. 1. Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time.
The exact circumstances of his death were unknown, but the U.S. Army determined him to be killed in action on Oct. 25, 1950.
William A Wheeler is buried or memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
September
19
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Jack M. Cash, Kitsap County, Washington killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In September 1950, Cash was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in combat actions with the enemy along the Naktong River in the vicinity of Yongsan, South Korea, on Sept. 1. Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time.
The exact circumstances of his death were unknown, and the U.S. Army determined him to be nonrecoverable on Dec. 31, 1953.
Jack M Cash is buried or memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Wylie W. Leverett, 28, Freestone County, Texas killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1944, Leverett was assigned to the 708th Bombardment Squadron, 447th Bombardment Group, 4th Combat Bomb Wing, 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Dec. 30, Leverett, the pilot onboard a B-17G “Flying Fortress” Fuddy Duddy, was lost when his aircraft collided with another American aircraft while on a bombing mission to Mannheim, Germany.
Wylie W Leverett is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing Lorraine American Cemetery St. Avold, France.
Navy Chief Carpenter’s Mate Tedd M. Furr, 39, of Selma, Alabama, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Furr 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 Furr.
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 Furr.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Furr’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Furr will be buried on April 2, 2025, in the Punchbowl.
Navy Fireman 1st Class Edward D. Johnson, 24, of Hurdsfield, North Dakota, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Johnson 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 Johnson.
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 Johnson.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Johnson’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Johnson will be buried on Oct. 25, 2024, in the Punchbowl.
Soldier
U.S. Army Corporal Raymond N. DeCloss, 24, of Salinas, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, DeCloss was a member of Company C, 194th Tank Battalion, U.S. Army, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. DeCloss was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.According to prison camp and other historical records, DeCloss died Nov. 15, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 721.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them.
To identify DeCloss’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Today, DeCloss is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
DeCloss will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Tech. Sgt. Charles E. Young Jr., 32, of Los Angeles, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Young was a member of the 429th Signal Maintenance Company (Aviation), U.S. Army, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Young was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death Young and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.According to prison camp and other historical records, Young died July 16, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 316.Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them.
Eleven of the sets of remains from Common Grave 316 were identified, while the remaining 17 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 316 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Young’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.Although interred as an Unknown in MACM,
Young’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Young is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Young will be buried in Riverside, California, on Oct. 28, 2024.
U.S. Army Pvt. Willard D. Merrill, 22, Brunswick, Maine who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1942, Merrill was a member of the 2nd Observation Squadron, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Merrill was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
He was ultimately interned in the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of dysentery on August 28, 1942.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Private Merrill is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
U.S. Army Air Force Tech5 William E. Eby, Deschutes County, Oregon who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In early 1942, Eby was a member of 409th Signal Company, Aviation, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Eby was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.
More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
William E Eby is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Force Technical Sgt. Lynn M. Farnham, Oswego County, New York killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Eight of the ten crewmembers bailed out of the aircraft which crash outside of Langquaid, Germany. They reported seeing Farnham and another crewman dead near the co-pilots seat. Farnham’s body was not immediately recovered, and a report of death was finally issued on Aug. 10, 1945.
Lynn M Farnham is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France
September
12
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Walter A. Ross Jr., 30, Saint Louis, Missouri killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Sergeant First Class Ross was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on February 14, 1951 and died while a prisoner on April 15, 1951 in Pyongyang, North Korea. His remains were not recovered.
In early 1951, Ross was a member of Love Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action after his unit engaged in combat actions with the North Korean People’s Army near Sang-nok, South Korea, on Feb. 14, 1951. U.S. defensive positions were attacked and overrun, and Ross was not immediately accounted for.
Walter A Ross Jr is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
Walter is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
September
10
Army Sgt. Charles E. Beaty, 26, of Lake City, Arkansas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Beaty was a member of Item Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 3, after his unit was attacked by Chinese People’s Volunteer Army forces as they attempted to withdraw to the town of Hagaru-ri near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, Beaty’s remains could not be recovered and he was reported Missing In Action. The exact circumstances of his loss were unknown.
On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Beaty’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Beaty will be buried in Lake City, Arkansas, on a date to be determined.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. John A. Tarbert, 24, of Port Deposit, Maryland, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1944, Tarbert was assigned to the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Sept. 27, Tarbert, a waist gunner onboard the B-24J Liberator Mairzy Doats, was killed in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Bassenheim, Germany. None of the six surviving crewmembers reported seeing Tarbert successfully bail out of the crashing plane, which landed in a local hill called Karmelenberg near the towns of Ochtendung and Bassenheim, Germany. After the war, there was no record of the missing crewmembers being taken as POWs by German forces. The three crewmembers, including Tarbert, remained unaccounted for following the war.
In February 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, recovered unidentified remains recovered from the Bassenheim Cemetery. These remains, X-2360 Margraten (X-2360), were reportedly removed from an aircraft crash by villagers after a crash in late Sept. 1944.
Later, in 1951, a team visited the crash site and recovered remains from the crater, designated X-9048 Liege (X-9048). At the time, an identification of X-2360 was made for the missing Mairzy Doats tail gunner. Identification of the other remains was not possible, and they were transferred to what is now the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial, Carthage, Tunisia.
DPAA historians determined a strong possible connection between X-9048 and Tarbert was possible. In Sept. 2022, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel, exhumed X-9048 from the North African American Cemetery and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
Also in
Sept. 2022, DPAA sent an investigation team, which included Army Geospatial
Center personnel, to investigate a crash site outside Bassenheim believed to be
that of Mairzy
Doats.
Remains recovered from the crash site were sent to the DPAA laboratory for
analysis and identification.
Tarbert’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Tarbert will be buried in Schuylerville, New York, on Nov. 8, 2024
September
10
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Israel Ramos, 18, of Calverton, New York, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In August 1950, Ramos was a member of D Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in combat actions with the enemy along the Naktong River in the vicinity of Yongsan, South Korea, on Aug. 31. Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time. The exact circumstances of his death were unknown, and the U.S. Army determined him to be nonrecoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
In December 1950, members from the 565th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company located and recovered six sets of remains from the east side of Hill 311, roughly one mile northwest of Chilhyeon-ri village. Of the six remains, two soldiers were identified, while the remaining designated X-326 thru X-329 were interred in the Miryang United Nations Memorial Cemetery. The remains were reexamined in 1955 and all but X-328 were identified. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In June 2021, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-328 and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Ramos’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Ramos will be buried in Calverton, New York, on Oct. 11, 2024.
U.S. Army Pvt. Robert L. Skaar, 18, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In early 1945, Skaar was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 222nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division. On March 10, Skaar was killed in action while his unit was on patrol near Wildenguth, France. The Germans never reported Skaar as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not immediately recovered.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Wildenguth. None of the investigations uncovered any leads regarding the disposition of Skaar’s remains. Consequently, he was declared non-recoverable on March 12, 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth. and found that X-5726 Neuville (X-5726), buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, could be associated with Skaar. X-5726 was disinterred in August 2022 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Skaar’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Skaar will be buried on October 1, 2024, in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
September 5
U.S. Army Private 1st Class Robert J. Wright Jr, 20, of Hollybrook, Virginia, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Wright was a member of G Company, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, after his unit attempted to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, two POWs who returned during Operation Big Switch reported Wright had been a prisoner of war and died in March 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #5.
In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #5, to the United Nations Command. None were associated with Wright.
One set of remains disinterred from Camp #5 returned during Operation Glory was designated Unknown X-14717 and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In August 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14717 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Wright’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Wright will be buried in Hollybrook, Virginia, on a date to be determined.
Airman
September 3
U.S. Army Air Forces Sergeant Henry H. Packard, 34, of Plymouth, New Hampshire, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In summer 1942, Packard was a member of the Chemical Warfare Service, U.S. Army, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Packard was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Packard died September 17, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 445.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them.
Four sets of remains from Common Grave 445 were identified, but
the remaining two were declared unidentifiable, including those of Sgt. Packard.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2019, the remains associated with Common Grave 445 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Packard’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Packard will be buried in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on a date to be determined.
August 22
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Arlie P. Barrett, 19, of Bluff City, Tennessee, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In August 1950, Barrett was a member of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in combat actions with the North Korean People’s Army along the Naktong River west of Yongsan, South Korea, on Aug. 10, 1950. Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time. The exact circumstances of his death were unknown.
On Dec. 29, 1950, Unknown Remains X-334 Miryang (X-334) was recovered near the village of Chirhyon-ni, roughly eight miles from where Barrett was reported MIA. The remains could not be identified as Barrett at the time, and they were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, known as the Punchbowl.
In June 2021, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-334 and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Barrett’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Barrett will be buried in Mountain Home, Tennessee, on Sept. 27, 2024.
August 19
U.S. Army Pvt. Kwack K. Woo, 31, of Los Angeles, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In February 1945, Woo was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division. His regiment was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Biesdorf, Germany, when he was reported killed in action by small arms fire on Feb. 9. His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces on an elevated position. Despite various recovery attempts, Woo’s remains were not accounted for during or after the war.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. In 1951, remains were recovered from a wooded area southeast of Biesdorf. Remnants of military clothing, an American helmet and ammunition were found, but no identification tags or personal effects were located. The remains were designated X-8517 Neuville and interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Tunisia, known today as the North Africa American Cemetery.
In September 2022, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel exhumed X-8517 Neuville for forensic analysis and comparison with unresolved soldiers known to have been lost in the Biesdorf conflict area. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Woo’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Luxembourg
American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Hamm, Luxembourg, along with the others still
missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Woo will be buried in Agawam, Massachusetts, on Sept. 28, 2024.
U.S. Army Sgt. Kester B. Hardman, 22, of Smithville, West Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Dec. 1950, Hardman was assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Sunchon, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Following the armistice in 1953, North Korean forces claimed Hardman died in the spring of 1951 while in captivity at POW Camp 5, on the Pyoktong Peninsula. His remains were not identified during or immediately after the war.
Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-13467 OP GLORY, was reportedly recovered from the 1st Marine Division Cemetery at Yudam-ni, D.P.R.K. While most losses interred at Yudam-ni were primarily Marines, several other sets of remains were identified as POWs who had died at Camp 5. Investigators could not identify X-13467 at the time, and they were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown Remains X-13467 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
Hardman’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hardman will be buried in Smithville, West Virginia, on a date to be determined.
August 15
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Clossie D. Brown, 36, of Frankfort, Indiana, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Brown was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II. Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND. The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company F found itself assigned to a 7-mile sector at Reipertswiller and Wildenguth, France. At some point on Jan 21, Brown was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered. With no record of German forces capturing Brown, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Finding of Death” in January 1946.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began looking for missing American personnel in the Reipertswiller area. On June 15, 1947, a French demining unit in the Obermuhlthal forest, northeast of Reiperstwiller, discovered fragmentary human remains and Pfc. Brown’s identification tag. The recovered remains, designated X-5723 Neuville (X-5723), were analyzed, but at the time scientists were unable to make a positive identification. They were interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery at St. Avold, France, known today as Lorraine American Cemetery.
DPAA historians have been conducting in-depth research into Soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth and Reipertswiller, and believe that the fragmentary remains comprising Unknown X-5723 could be associated with Brown. They also determined that additional remains, designated X-8046 St. Avold, could also represent portions of Brown. In June 2021 and Aug. 2022, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission workers exhumed X-5723 and X-8046, and transferred the remains to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Brown’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery
in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Brown will be buried in Frankfort, Indiana, on Sept. 24, 2024.
Airman
August 15
U.S. Army Air Forces Private Robert W. Cash, 20, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In summer 1942, Cash was a member of the 28th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Cash was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Cash died July 16, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 316.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Eleven of the sets of remains from Common Grave 316 were identified, while the remaining 17 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 316 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Cash’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Today, Pvt. Cash is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Cash will be buried in Pittsford, New York, on a date to be determined
Pilot
August 12
U.S. Navy Reserve Lieutenant Jay R. Manown Jr., 26, of Kingwood, West Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the fall of 1944, Manown was an aviator assigned to Navy Torpedo Squadron 20 (VT-20), USS Enterprise. On Sept. 10, Manown and two other crew members aboard a TBM-1C Avenger (Bureau Number 17018), took off from the USS Enterprise on a mission to conduct air strikes against enemy targets in Malakal Naval District, Palau Islands. Witnesses from other aircraft in the formation saw Manown’s plane struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crash into water near Malakal. There were no indications that Manown or the other crewmembers exited the stricken aircraft prior to the crash, and all efforts to recover their remains were unsuccessful.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service, the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in Palau, concluding their search in the summer of 1947. Investigators could not find any evidence of Manown or his aircraft. He was declared non-recoverable July 16, 1949.
From 2003 to 2018, the BentProp Project (now known as Project Recover), with members from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of Delaware, and DPAA conducted multiple investigations resulting in the location of a site associated with the incident. Later, in May 2019, Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research (SHIPS), another DPAA partner organization, excavated the site and recovered possible osseous remains and other material evidence. In Sept. 2021, a subsequent excavation was completed by Project Recover and Legion Undersea Services (Legion), where additional remains and material evidence were recovered. Finally, in July 2023 Project Recover and Legion completed a third excavation at the site, collecting further osseous materials and material evidence. This evidence was all sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
In 2023 the DPAA laboratory scientifically identified the other two crewmen from Manown’s crash site, further supporting the belief that Manown’s remains were also recovered.
Manown’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines, along with others still missing from WWII.
A
rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Manown will be buried on October 29, 2024, in Kingwood, West Virginia.
August 12
U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Francis E. Callahan, 22, of Staten Island, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In spring 1944, Callahan was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On April 8, Callahan, the navigator onboard a B-24H “Liberator” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel. The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all ten crewmembers, including Callahan, were unaccounted for following the war.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the Salzwedel and Wistedt areas of Germany. German forces had maintained accurate documentation (Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen, or KU) of American aircraft shoot-downs, with several reports indicating B-24s crashing in the area. However, AGRC was unable to associate any KU reports with Little Joe and investigators were unable to locate any crash or burial sites associated with the loss.
In 2015, an independent research group, Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team (MAACRT), contacted DPAA historians with new information related to a possible crash site near Wistedt, Germany. Interviews with elderly local residents indicated there were two crash sites, but only one was recovered by American forces following the war. Investigators located the second crash site and were able to recover various pieces of wreckage. Possible osseous remains were also located and transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. At the time, no matches could be made with any Unknowns and further investigations were scheduled.
Callahan’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Callahan will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.
August 9
U.S. Army Air Forces Private 1st Class Harry M. Seiff, 23, of Venice, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In summer 1942, Seiff was a member of the 20th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Forces, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Seiff was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Seiff died November 14, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 723.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Several sets of remains from Common Grave 723 were identified, but the remaining others were declared unidentifiable, including those of Pfc. Seiff. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In June 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 723 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Seiff’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Seiff will be buried on a date and location to be determined.
August 9
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Alvin R. Scarborough, 22, of Dossville, Mississippi, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1942, Scarborough was a member of 454th Ordnance Company (Aviation), when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Scarborough was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Scarborough died July 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 215.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Five sets of remains from Common Grave 215 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 215 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Scarborough’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Scarborough will be buried in Carthage, Mississippi, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Master Sgt. David P. Sluder, 33, of Johnson City, Tennessee, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Sluder was a member of Battery B, 63rd Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division during the Korean War. He went missing in action after his unit was attacked by enemy ground forces in the vicinity of Samgyo-ri along the Kum River, South Korea, on July 14. Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
After regaining control of Taejon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Taejon. One set of remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-1422. A tentative association was made between X-1422 and Sluder, but definitive proof could not be found, and X-1422 was determined to be unidentifiable. The remains were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In Oct 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-1422 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
Sluder’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Sluder will be buried in Mountain Home, Tennessee, on Sept. 29, 2024.
Soldier
August 1
U.S. Army Technician Fifth Grade (Tech5) Harold D. Pittis, 21, of Freeport, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In February 1945, Pittis was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division. His regiment was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Biesdorf, Germany, when he was reported killed in action by small arms fire on Feb. 8.
His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces on an elevated position. Despite various recovery attempts, Pittis’s remains were not accounted for during or after the war.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. In 1951, remains were recovered from a wooded area southeast of Biesdorf.
Remnants of military clothing, an American helmet and ammunition were found, but no identification tags or personal effects were located. The remains were designated X-8517 Neuville and interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Tunisia, known today as the North Africa American Cemetery.
In September 2022, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel exhumed X-8517 Neuville for forensic analysis and comparison with unresolved soldiers known to have been lost in the Biesdorf area. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Pittis’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Luxembourg American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Hamm, Luxembourg, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pittis will be buried in Freeport, Ohio, on a date to be determined.
Ju
U.S. Army Cpl. Robert P. Raess, 21, of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, reported missing in action during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Raess was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Sept. 1, 1950, near Changnyeong, South Korea. The Army officially declared Raess deceased on Dec. 31, 1953, and declared his remains non-recoverable Jan. 16, 1956.
In Jan. 1951, the American Graves Registration Service Group (AGRSG) consolidated the remains from 12 smaller military cemeteries at the newly established United Nations Military Cemetery in Tanggok, South Korea, including one set of remains designated X-1578 Tanggok, which had been recovered from the area where Raess was last seen. In 1956, the remains, including X-1578 Tanggok, were unable to be identified, and then transported to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu where they were buried as Unknowns.
In July 2018, the Department of Defense (DoD) approved a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the NMPC across various phases. On April 19, 2021, the remains of X-1578 Tanggok were disinterred and sent to the DPAA Laboratory as part of Phase 3.
Raess’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Raess will be buried in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, on Sept. 7, 2024.
U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Joe A. De Jarnette, 25, from Fort Thomas, Campbell County, Kentucky was killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In spring 1944, De Jarnette was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On April 8, De Jarnette, the pilot onboard a B-24H “Liberator” Little Joe, was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany.
Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel.
The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all nine crewmembers, including De Jarnette, were unaccounted for following the war
Joe Allen De Jarnette is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.
U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Robert D. McKee, 27, from Portland, Oregon killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In spring 1944, McKee was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater.
On April 8,
McKee, the co-pilot onboard a B-24H “Liberator” Little
Joe,
was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire
while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft
flying in formation with Little
Joe did
not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the
vicinity of Salzwedel.
The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all nine crewmembers, including McKee, were unaccounted for following the war.
Robert D McKee is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.
Ju
U.S. Army Sgt. John P. Ryhter, 22, of Bedford, Ohio, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Dec. 1950, Ryhter was a member of Battery A, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army in the vicinity of Kunu-ri, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, during the Battle of Ch’ongch’on River. At the time the circumstances for Ryhter’s loss were not immediately known, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war.
The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-14632 OP GLORY, was reportedly recovered from Camp 5 Prisoner of War Cemetery, Pyoktong, North Korea. Definitive proof could not be found between X-14632 and Ryhter, and the remains were determined to be unidentifiable. They were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, known as the Punchbowl.
In Sept. 2019, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown X-14632 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
Ryhter’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Ryhter will be buried in Bedford, Ohio, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Technician Fifth Grade (Tech5) Harold D. Pittis,
22, from Freeport Township, Harrison, Ohio, killed during World War
II, was accounted for.
In February 1945, Pittis was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 318th
Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division.
His regiment was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Biesdorf, Germany, when he was reported killed in action by small arms fire on Feb. 8. His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces on an elevated position.
U.S. Army Harold D. Pittis was buried in Hamm, Luxembourg, in Luxembourg American Cemetery is located near the town of Hamm, three miles east of Luxembourg City center.
U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Jack H. Hohlfeld, 29, of Trempealeau, Wisconsin, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
Hohlfeld was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Hohlfeld was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death Hohlfeld and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Hohlfeld died Dec. 26, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 811.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three of the sets of remains from Common Grave 811 were identified, while the remaining 3 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 811 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Hohlfeld’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Today, Hohlfeld is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hohlfeld will be buried in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on a date to be determined.
Airman
U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Ralph H. Bode, 20, of Racine, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1944, SSgt. Bode was assigned to the 700th Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Sep 27, Bode, the tail gunner onboard a B-24H “Liberator”, was lost when his aircraft was shot down while on a bombing mission over Kassel, Germany. During the mission, the formation of Allied aircraft encountered heavy resistance from ground and air forces, which resulted in the rapid loss of 25 Liberators. Several surviving crewmembers from Bode’s aircraft reported seeing other crewmembers near escape hatches, but they did not see Bode escape the aircraft. After the crash, German forces captured 3 crewmembers as prisoners of war, but Bode was not among them. After a year without a sign of Bode, the War Department issued a finding of death on September 28, 1945.
In Sept 1951, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, received information from local residents of Richelsdorf, Germany, about several bombers that had crashed in the woods just outside town. Investigators were able to locate remains of crashed aircraft and various bits of scattered clothing, and the osseus remains belonging to multiple service members.
These remains, labeled X-9070 Liege and X-9071 Liege, were believed to be those belonging to members of Bode’s downed aircraft. At the time, identification of these remains was not possible, and they were interred in the Luxembourg America Cemetery, Luxembourg, and the North African American Cemetery, Tunisia, respectively.
The separate burials were done due to a lack of space in a single location.
Bode’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Luxembourg American Cemetery, Hamm, Luxembourg, along with others still missing
from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Bode will be buried on September 27, 2024, in Racine, Wisconsin.
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Alfred J. Hamwey, 24, of Jacksonville, Florida, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January
1945, Hamwey was assigned to 360th Service Group, Combat Replacement Training
Center, Far East Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. As
part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat near Wewak, Territory of
New Guinea, Hamwey’s unit attacked enemy defensive positions on nearby Cape Wom.
Hamwey was reported as missing in action on Jan. 20, when friendly forces lost
contact with the A-20G Havoc bomber
he was piloting.
Following the war, the American
Graves Registration Service (AGRS),
the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American
personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas
and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. In June
1949, a board of AGRS officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains
of Hamwey and the other two crew members. They were designated as
non-recoverable.
DPAA predecessor organizations began researching and recovering service members from Papua New Guinea in the early 1980s. In December 2011, an Australian Defence Force officer reported seeing an aircraft crash site in a swap near Cape Wom, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. A local guide from the nearby Wom Village had discovered the site roughly six months prior and stated human remains had been seen in the crash. Between July 2015 and May 2016, DPAA personnel interviewed locals, collected crash materials and various life support items, and collected possible osseous remains. In late 2022, a DPAA Underwater Recovery Team conducted operations at the site, and recovered possible human remains, material evidence, and other life support equipment. The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis.
Hamwey’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hamwey will be buried on September 12, 2024, in Jacksonville, Florida.
Soldier
U.S. Air Force Sgt. David S. Price, 27, from Centralia Washington who was killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for.
In 1968, Price and 18 other men were assigned to Lima Site 85, a tactical air navigation radar site on a remote, 5,600-foot mountain peak known as Phou Pha Thi in Houaphan Province, Laos. In the early morning of March 11, the site was overrun by Vietnamese commandos, causing the Americans to seek safety on a narrow ledge of the steep mountain. A few hours later, under the protective cover of A-1 Skyraider aircraft, U.S. helicopters were able to rescue eight of the men. Price and 10 other Americans were killed in action and unable to be recovered.
In 1994, a joint U.S. - Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) recovery operation, led by DPAA’s predecessor Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), took place near the top of Phou Pha Thi with negative results. A second recovery operation, in 2003, resulted in the discovery of remains which were subsequently identified as one of the missing U.S. servicemen, Tech Sgt. Patrick L. Shannon. Since that time, JPAC evaluated the feasibility of conducting recoveries on Phou Pha Thi but logistics and safety concerns precluded further attempts.
From 1994 to 2009, in cooperation with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) and L.P.D.R., teams pursued multiple leads from dozens of witnesses interviewed, including those involved with the attack. In 2003 a joint team recovered remains during site investigation work along the western slopes of Phou Pha Thi. The remains were scientifically identified as one of the 11 missing Airmen from this incident. In 2005, a Laotian citizen provided U.S. officials an identification card belonging to another missing servicemember, and human remains purportedly found at the base of Phou Pha Thi.
In 2023, DPAA personnel and members from partner organizations discovered unexploded ordnance, incident-related materials, possible material evidence, and possible osseus remains from the research site. Believing a possible match to Price, the remains were transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
Price is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, and on the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.,
(Panel 44E, Line 19).
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Price will be buried in Centralia, Washington, on August 30, 2024.
Pilot
U.S. Navy Reserve Lieutenant Jay R. Manown, from West Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Lt. Manown was the pilot of a torpedo bomber and assigned to Torpedo Squadron Twenty (VT-20) on USS Enterprise (CV-6). His aircraft and crew were declared missing in action near the Palau Islands on 10 September 1944. One year and one day later the status of the crew was changed to killed in action.
On Sept. 10, Manown and two other crew members aboard a TBM-1C Avenger (Bureau Number 17018), took off from the USS Enterprise on a mission to conduct air strikes against enemy targets in Malakal Naval District, Palau Islands.
Witnesses from other aircraft in the formation saw Manown’s plane struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crash into water near Malakal. There were no indications that Manown or the other crewmembers exited the stricken aircraft prior to the crash, and all efforts to recover their remains were unsuccessful.
Navy Fireman 3rd Class (F3c) Royle B. Luker, from Arkansas killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Fireman Third Class Luker entered the U.S. Navy from Arkansas and served aboard the USS West Virginia (BB-48). The West Virginia was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when the area was attacked by Japanese Imperial Forces on December 7, 1941. The West Virginia suffered multiple torpedo hits and sank to the shallow harbor floor. F3 Luker did not survive the incident. During efforts to salvage the West Virginia following its loss, U.S. Navy personnel collected a large number of remains. Some remains were identified, but many were not, including those of F3 Luker, so they were interred as unknowns at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, Hawaii. In 2017, DPAA exhumed 35 caskets containing remains associated with the West Virginia.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Luker.
Fireman Third Class Luker is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Navy Fireman 1st Class (F1c) Fred H. Boyer, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Boyer was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Boyer.
Tanker
U.S. Army Corporal Robert A. Bartlett, 22, of Pierre, South Dakota, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In July 1944, Bartlett was assigned to Company A, 744th Tank Battalion, as a crew member of an M5A1 Stuart light tank. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces at Saint-Germain-d’Elle, France, on July 26 when his tank was struck by an enemy shoulder-fired rocket. Two crewmembers were able to escape the vehicle, but Bartlett and another Soldier were never seen or heard from again.
Due to strong enemy artillery fire and intense combat, surviving crewmembers were unable to examine the tank afterwards. Bartlett was declared missing in action, but the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. In September 1950, with no evidence Bartlett survived the fighting, the Army Quartermaster Corps determined his remains were non-recoverable.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. On July 30, 1944, AGRC personnel recovered two sets of remains from an M5A1 destroyed in the vicinity of Saint-Germain-d’Elle. Ultimately, they could not identify the remains, designated X-141 and X-142 St. Laurent, and they were interred in the Normandy American Cemetery, France.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Saint-Germain-d’Elle area, a DPAA historian determined that the M5A1 Stuart tank recovered from the area belonged to Company A, where Bartlett was assigned. This correlation led DPAA and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel to exhume the remains of X-141 and X-142 in April 2018, and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
Bartlett’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Bartlett will be buried in Blount, South Dakota, on August 10, 2024.
Army Pvt. 1st Class Luther E. Bagley, 22, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
In the spring and summer of 1944, Pfc. Bagley was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, reinforcing the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), also known as Merrill’s Marauders. On July 25, Bagley’s battalion was engaged with Japanese forces in the Battle of Myitkyina, in Burma.
It was reported he was killed in action while attempting to secure an airstrip near the village of Radhapur. His remains were not accounted for during or after the war.
In 1947, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel recovered a set of unknown remains, designated X-524 Barrackpore, in the vicinity of Myitkyina. The remains were initially examined at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, but investigators were unable to scientifically identify them. X-524 was interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In 2021, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-524 from the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis.
Bagley’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City, Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.
Bagley will be buried in Fitzgerald, Georgia, on August 10, 2024.
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Army Corporal Edward J. Smith, 18, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In August 1950, Smith was a member of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Aug. 31 while fighting North Korean forces in the vicinity of Changnyong, South Korea.
He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that could be identified as Smith.
On October 6, 1950, a sets of remains was recovered from an isolated grave in a rice paddy near the village of Ibang-ni, roughly 8 miles west of Changnyong. Investigators could not make a scientific identification, and the remains, designated Unknown X-321 Miryang, were later transported to the United Nations Military Cemetery for temporary interment. In Feb. 1951, X-321, along with other unidentified Korean War remains, were transferred to National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In June 2021, DPAA exhumed X-321 for scientific analysis and identification, and transferred the remains to the DPAA Laboratory.
Smith’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monument Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Smith will be buried in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on August 23, 2024.
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan W. Knepper, 27, of Lewiston, Idaho, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In summer 1943, Knepper was a pilot with the 49th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of World War II. On July 10, Knepper departed El Bathan Airfield, Tunisia, in his P-38 “Lightning” as one of many fighter waves assigned to attack enemy forces near Caltagirone, Italy, and neutralize Axis air powers. In attempts to obstruct Axis movements from the island’s interior toward the beach where Allied forces were landing, U.S. air forces were dispatched every 30 minutes throughout the day. Knepper’s squadron encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire, and another pilot witnessed Knepper’s aircraft veer suddenly skyward before rolling halfway over and plummeting to the ground.
There was no witness of any deployed parachute following the crash, and it was believed he was still in the plane when it crashed. Knepper’s remains were not recovered, and he was subsequently declared missing in action.
DPAA researchers located a German report at the U.S. National Archives, dated 10 July 1943, which reports two American “Lightning” aircraft were shot down and crashed west and southwest of Caltagirone. Between 2015 and 2023, the Department of Defense and its partners researched, investigated, and excavated a crash site near Caltagirone, recovering material evidence and remains that are believed to be associated with 2nd. Lt. Knepper. These remains were then sent to the DPAA laboratory for examination and identification.
2nd Lt. Knepper’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
2nd Lt. Knepper will be buried in Lewiston, Idaho, on Aug. 2, 2024.
Airman
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Frank J. Tedone, 23, of Hartford, Connecticut, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
In December 1943, Tedone was a member of the 436th Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group during World War II. On Dec. 1, he was serving as a gunner onboard a B-24J Liberator bomber while on a bombing mission from Panagarh, India, to the Insein Railroad Yard north of Rangoon, Burma. After reaching the designated target, Tedone’s plane was reportedly hit by anti-aircraft fire, causing the left wing to burst into flames. Witnesses from another aircraft noted seeing Tedone’s aircraft enter a steep dive while disappearing below the clouds. It was noted that 3 enemy aircraft were also seen following the crippled plane into the clouds, and no further contact was made with the Liberator. The remains of the crew were not recovered or identified after the war, and they were all later declared Missing In Action.
In 1947 the American Grave Registration Service (AGRS) recovered the remains of what they believed to be eight individuals involved in a potential B-24 Liberator crash near Yodayadet, Burma. According to local witnesses, there were no survivors from this aviation loss and Japanese forces had instructed local villagers to bury the remains in two large graves. The AGRS designated the remains recovered from these graves as Unknowns X-505A, X-505B, X-505C, X-505D, X-505E, X-505F, X-505G, and X-505H Barrackpore (X-505A-H). The remains could not be scientifically identified at the time and were interred as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), Honolulu, Hawaii, also known as the Punchbowl.
In early 2019, DPAA received a family disinterment request for Unknown X-505A-H based on past attempts to associate the remains with other unresolved losses from southern Burma. This led DPAA historians to review the other associated Unknown Files, or X files, from the crash. The Department of Defense approved the disinterment request, and in October 2020, DPAA personnel exhumed the remains X-505 A thru H from NMCP where they were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
SSgt. Tedone’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
SSgt. Tedone will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pvt. William A. Smith, 21, of Syracuse, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, Smith was assigned to Company C, 149th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater. On June 6, Smith was aboard Landing Craft Infantry (Large) 92, along with roughly 200 other servicemembers, enroute to land on Omaha Beach, in Normandy, France.
As LCI-92 steamed toward the shore, it struck an underwater mine which caused the craft to burst into flames. The craft was also hit by enemy artillery fire, causing an explosion that ignited the ships fuel stores and instantly killed everyone in the troop compartment. Due to the urgency of the situation, it was impossible for others to search for survivors. Smith’s remains were not accounted for after the war.
Around June 10, members of the 500th Medical Collecting Company examined the wreckage of LCI-92 and noted the burnt remains of servicemen in the troop compartment, where Smith and others were last seen. American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, removed small amounts of remains from LCI-92 and buried them in the United States Military Cemetery (USMC) St. Laurent-sur-Mer.
Beginning in 1946, AGRC analyzed the remains found in LCI-92, segregating them into four separate Unknowns (X-53, X-83, X-83B, and X-83C). Despite their efforts, AGRC were unable to identify the Unknowns at the time and they were interred in Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Normandy, France.
In June and August 2021, the Department of Defense and ABMC officials exhumed the comingled remains of the four Unknowns and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Pvt. Smith’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pvt. Smith will be buried November 11, 2024, in St. Louis, Missouri.
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U.S. Army Corporal Jesse L. Mitchell, 22, of Shawnee, Oklahoma, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Dec. 1950, Mitchell was a member of C Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Kunu-ri, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, during the Battle of Ch’ongch’on River.
Eyewitness accounts recall Mitchell being captured by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces while attempting to withdraw to friendly positions.
He reportedly died from exhaustion and malnutrition while in captivity at POW Camp 5, on the Pyoktong Peninsula, in summer 1951.
Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-13443 OP GLORY, was reportedly recovered from the 1st Marine Division Cemetery at Yudam-ni, D.P.R.K. While most losses interred at Yudam-ni were primarily Marines, several other sets of remains were identified as POWs who had died at Camp 5. Investigators could not identify X-13443 at the time, and they were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown Remains X-13443 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
Cpl. Mitchell’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cpl. Mitchell will be buried in Shawnee, Oklahoma, on October 12, 2024.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Alcario V. Flores, 37, of Coolidge, Arizona, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Flores was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II. Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND.
The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company G found itself assigned to a sector at Reipertswiller, known as “Hoch Ebersberg” (Mount Ebersberg).
At some point on Jan 21, Pfc. Flores was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered. With no record of German forces capturing Flores, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Report of Death” in Jan 1946.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began looking for missing American personnel in the Reipertswiller and Wildenguth areas of France. At the time, they were able to recover numerous sets of remains, but none found belonged to Flores. Because the remains could not be identified, they were interred in 1949 at the U.S. Military Cemetery at St. Avold, France, known today as Lorraine American Cemetery.
DPAA historians have been conducting in-depth research into Soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth and Reipertswiller, and in 2021 an anonymous metal detectorist discovered human remains while illegally collecting relics from a foxhole on Hoch Ebersberg. The detectorist also discovered material evidence linking the remains to U.S. Army troops, to include clothing and 30-calibre casings. In December 2021, a DPAA Detachment Europe team recovered the remains and items from the southern slope of Hoch Ebersberg and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Pfc. Flores’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc. Flores will be buried in Tempe, Arizona, on August 3, 2024.
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur B. Ervin, 22, of Detroit, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In July 1944, Ervin was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which was part of the invasion force of the island of Saipan in a larger effort to capture the Mariana Islands from Japan. On July 5, Ervin was shot and killed by a sniper while trying to assist a wounded comrade. Due to the chaos surrounding the battle and its aftermath, his body was unable to be recovered.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater. They searched for and disinterred remains on Saipan, but could not identify any as Ervin. He was declared non-recoverable in September 1949.
Remains designated as Unknown X-64 4th Infantry Division Cemetery were recovered from Saipan and interred in the Fort William McKinley Cemetery, now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines.
After thorough historical research, it was determined that X-64 could likely be identified. On Dec. 6, 2018, Unknown X-64 was disinterred and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
Ervin’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Ervin was buried October 16, 2023, in the Punchbowl.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Stanley J. Samoski, 22, of Manchester, New Hampshire, killed during World War II was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Samoski served with the 334th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Samoski was serving as a bombardier, crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiești, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiești, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for examination and identification.
2nd Lt. Samoski’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the North Africa American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Carthage, Tunisia, along with others still missing from WWII.
A
rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
2nd Lt. Samoski will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.
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Army Pvt. 1st Class Joseph R. Travers, 24, from Massachusetts, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In early 1951, Travers was a member of Dog
Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was
reported missing in action on Apr. 22, 1951, after his unit had engaged enemy
forces near the village of Undam-Jang, Republic of Korea, on Nov. 30, following
the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, several POWs who returned during Operation
Big Switch reported
Pfc Travers had been a prisoner of war and died in December 1951 at Prisoner of
War Camp 1 in Changsong, North Korea, on the bank of the Yalu River. However,
his remains were not identified among
those returned to U.S. custody after the war.
Private First Class Travers is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
July
2
Army Master Sgt. Wallace Simmons Jr., 36, from Indianapolis, Indiana killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Simmons was a member of Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Dec. 6, 1950, after his unit was engaged with enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. The exact circumstances of his loss are not historically available, and there was never a record he was held captive as a POW.
Wallace Simmons Jr is
U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta, 21, of Los Angeles, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In early 1944, Banta was assigned to the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Feb 24, Banta, an engineer onboard a B-24J “Liberator”, was killed in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. One of the surviving crewmembers reported seeing the plane on fire and in a steep dive, before eventually exploding on the ground.
While two crewmembers survived, the others, including Banta, were killed in the incident. German forces garrisoned in the area documented the crash site north of Leimbach Bahnhof, near Bad Salzungen, Germany. After the crash, German troops recovered the remains of the ball turret gunner and buried them in a local cemetery. The other six crewmembers, including Banta, were unaccounted for following the war.
In March 1952, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, took custody of comingled unidentified remains recovered from Bad Salzungen Cemetery. These remains, X-9093 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9093), X-9094 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9094), and X-9095 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9095), were believed to be those belonging to Banta’s downed aircraft. At the time, identification of these remains was not possible, and they were interred in the Ardennes American Cemetery, Belgium.
In June 2021, DPAA historians and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel, exhumed X-9093, X-9094, and X-9095 from Ardennes American Cemetery and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
TSgt. Banta’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Hombourg, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
TSgt. Banta will be buried in Riverside National Cemetery, California, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Sgt. Jack Zarifian, 19, from Fairfield County, Connecticut killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In April 1945, Zarifian was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division.
His unit was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Buchhof, Germany, when he was reported killed in action after being struck by a Nebelwerfer rocket on Apr. 6.
His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against German forces hiding in the town.
Sgt. Zarifian’s remains were not accounted for during or after the war, and he was not reported as being captured by German forces.
Jack Zarifian is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France.
U.S. Army Private Joseph M. Cocco, from Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania missing in action during World War II, was accounted for.
In September 1943, Cocco was assigned to the Company C, 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion in the Mediterranean Theater in World War II. On Sept. 11, Cocco was reported killed in action in the vicinity of the Chiunzi Pass, north of Maiori, Italy, during Operation Avalanche.
His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a finding of death on Sept. 27, 1949
Joseph M Cocco is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy.
June
25
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Raymond E. Hall, 40, from Tennessee was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In October 1950, Hall was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
He was
originally reported killed in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat
actions in the vicinity of Sunchon, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Hall had
actually been captured by enemy forces and was being transported north with
other POWs, when guards suddenly executed him and 65 other U.S. POWs in what
would be called the “Suncheon Tunnel Massacre.”
The remains of the men were found by U.S. forces the following day and were transported to the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Pyongyang for temporary interment. Sgt. 1st Class Hall was initially identified by FBI fingerprint comparison while at UNMC, but Pyongyang had to be evacuated to due to enemy activity and his remains were not recovered.
Army Pvt. 1st Class Clossie D. Brown, 27, from Kirklin, Clinton County, Indiana killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Brown was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II.
Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND.
On January 21, he was on the front line of an attack on an enemy position near Reipertswiller, France. PFC Brown was pinned down by heavy sniper and machine gun fire that caused his unit to pull back. When the company regrouped, PFC Brown was reported as missing, but the exact circumstances of his loss are unknown.
The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company F found itself assigned to a 7-mile sector at Reipertswiller and Wildenguth, France.
At some point on Jan 21, Pfc. Brown was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered. With no record of German forces capturing Brown, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Report of Death” in January 1946.
Clossie Denver Brown is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France.
U.S. Army Pfc. Joseph C. Murphy, 20, of Bogalusa, Louisiana, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1942, Murphy was a member of Company I, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Murphy was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Murphy died Oct. 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 713.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Two of the sets of remains from Common Grave 713 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 713 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown
in MACM, Murphy’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by
the American
Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Today, Pfc. Murphy is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at
the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Pfc. Murphy will be buried in Bogalusa, Louisiana, on Aug. 3, 2024.
U.S. Navy Fireman Second Class (F2c) Joseph W. Carroll, 20, of Caddo, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Carroll was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Carroll.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries on Oahu.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the dentifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time.
The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including F2c Carroll.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
F2c Carroll’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
F2c Carroll will be buried on Aug. 24, 2024, in the Punchbowl.
U.S. Army Private Jacob Gutterman, 24, from New York who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
He was captured following the American surrender of the Bataan
Peninsula on April 9, 1942, and forced on the Bataan Death March. He was
ultimately interned in the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija
Province, where he died of malaria on July 16, 1942.
At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners
of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Conditions at the
camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread
malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery.
By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans
had died at Cabanatuan.
In summer 1942, Gutterman was a member of the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Gutterman was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death Gutterman and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Private Gutterman is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
June
17
U.S. Army Sgt. John P. Ryhter, 22, from Fresno County, California killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Dec. 1950, Ryhter was a member of Battery A, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Kunu-ri, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, during the Battle of Ch’ongch’on River.
The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Sgt Ryhter went missing in action on December 1, 1950, as his unit provided direct fire support to 2nd Infantry Division troops withdrawing from Kunu-ri south to Sunchon, North Korea.
At the time the circumstances for his loss were not immediately recorded, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war.
The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Jan. 16, 1956.
John P Ryhter is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
June
17
Army Sgt. Clayton M. Pierce, from New York, was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Pierce was a member of D Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after his unit was engaged with enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
The exact circumstances of his loss are not historically available, and there was never a record he was held captive as a POW.
June
17
Army Corporal Edward J. Smith, from Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In August 1950, Smith was a member of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
Throughout August 1950, and into September, the division fought a series of battles against North Korean Forces for strategic positions on the Naktong River near Yongsan, South Korea. On August 31, North Korean Forces crossed the river and overran several American positions, including those held by Cpl Smith's battalion.
He was killed during this fighting, but the exact details of his loss are unknown. In December 1950, U.S. personnel recovered remains from the area where Cpl Smith was lost.
He was reported missing in action on Aug. 31 while fighting North Korean forces in the vicinity of Changnyong, South Korea.
He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that could be identified as Smith.
June
17
Army Sgt. 1st Class Israel Ramos, from New York County, New York killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In August 1950, Ramos was a member of D Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
He went missing in action after his unit engaged in combat actions with the enemy along the Naktong River in the vicinity of Yongsan, South Korea, on Aug. 31.
Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time.
The exact circumstances of his death were unknown, and the U.S. Army determined him to be nonrecoverable on Jan. 16, 1956
Israel Ramos is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
June
17
Army Sgt. Kester B. Hardman, 22,
In April 1951, Hardman was a member of M Company, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Sunchon, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Following the armistice in 1953, North Korean forces claimed Sgt. Hardman died in the spring of 1951 while in captivity at POW Camp 5, on the Pyoktong Peninsula.
His remains were not identified during or immediately after the war.
June
17
Army Pfc. Charles A. Vorel Jr., 21, from Omaha, Nebraska killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
On the evening of July 15, 1950, the 19th Infantry Regiment held a defensive position on the south bank of the Kum River near Taejon, South Korea. The next morning, North Korean People's Army forces crossed the river in force and forced open several gaps in the American lines. By the time U.S. troops were ordered to withdraw, the enemy had established a powerful roadblock on the main road leading south to Taejon. The men of the 19th were forced to split into small groups and attempt to fight their way cross country to friendly lines. Of the approximately 900 soldiers in the regiment the morning of July 16, only 434 were present for duty 24 hours later. PFC Vorel was reported missing in action after the withdrawal to Taejon, but the exact circumstances of his loss are unknown.
He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that could be identified as Vorel. He was declared non-recoverable in January 1956
June
17
Army Corporal William Colby, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Colby was a member of Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Corporal Colby is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
June
17
Army Sgt. Charles E. Beaty, from Arkansas killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Apr. 5, 2024.
On the evening of November 27, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive attack against the U.S. and United Nations (UN) troops stationed in the Chosin Reservoir area in north-east North Korea. Sgt Beaty's regiment held ground north of Sinhung-ni, on the east side of the reservoir.
On December 3, Sgt Beaty was reported missing in action near Hagaru-ri, though the exact circumstances of his loss are unknown. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
In late 1950, Beaty was a member of Item Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 3, 1950, after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Charles E Beaty is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
U.S. Army Sgt. Sam A. Prince, 28,
In late 1942, Prince was a member of Headquarters Battery, 200th Coast Artillery Regiment, U.S. Army, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Prince was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death Prince and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
He was ultimately interned in the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of malaria on September 22, 1942. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan.
Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Sgt Prince was buried in Common Grave 434 at the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery along with other deceased American POWs. Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them.
Four sets of remains from Common Grave 434 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable and were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as Unknowns.
Sergeant Prince is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
U.S. Army Tech. Sgt. Charles E. Young Jr., from Los Angeles County, California who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In
late 1942, Young was a member of the 429th Signal Maintenance Company
(Aviation), U.S. Army, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in
December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula
on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Young was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death Young and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Technical Sergeant Young is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class (S2c) George A. Thompson, 20, of Omaha, Nebraska, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Thompson 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 S2c Thompson.
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 (CIL) at Schofield Barracks. In their analysis, CIL personnel could only identify 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 graves 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 S2c Thompson.
In 2003, renewed efforts to identify the Unknowns of the USS Oklahoma began with the exhumation of one of the 46 graves. In 2015, DPAA received the approval to exhume the rest of the Oklahoma Unknowns from the NMCP, which were accessioned into the DPAA Laboratory for identification.
S2c Thompson’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
S2c Thompson will be buried on July 15, 2024, in the Punchbowl
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Edward K. Pyle, 31, of Alliance, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December 1943, Pyle was a member of the 436th Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group during World War II. On Dec. 1, he was serving as a gunner onboard a B-24J Liberator bomber while on a bombing mission from Panagarh, India, to the Insein Railroad Yard north of Rangoon, Burma. After reaching the designated target, Pyle’s plane was reportedly hit by anti-aircraft fire, causing the left wing to burst into flames. Witnesses from another aircraft noted seeing Pyle’s aircraft enter a steep dive while disappearing below the clouds. It was noted that 3 enemy aircraft were also seen following the crippled plane into the clouds, and no further contact was made with the Liberator. The remains of the crew were not recovered or identified after the war, and they were all later declared Missing In Action.
In 1947 the American Grave Registration Service (AGRS) recovered the remains of what they believed to be eight individuals involved in a potential B-24 Liberator crash near Yodayadet, Burma. According to local witnesses, there were no survivors from this aviation loss and Japanese forces had instructed local villagers to bury the remains in two large graves. The AGRS designated the remains recovered from these graves as Unknowns X-505A, X-505B, X-505C, X-505D, X-505E, X-505F, X-505G, and X-505H Barrackpore (X-505A-H).
In early 2019, DPAA received a family disinterment request for Unknown X-505A-H based on past attempts to associate the remains with other unresolved losses from southern Burma. This led DPAA historians to review the other associated X files from the crash. The Department of Defense approved the disinterment request, and in October, 2020, DPAA personnel exhumed the remains X-505 A thru H from NMCP where they were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
SSgt. Pyle’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
SSgt. Pyle will be buried in Augusta, Michigan, on a date to be determined.
Soldier
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Harry H. Hosfelt Jr., 20, of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, missing in action during World War II, was accounted for.
In February 1944, PFC Hosfelt was assigned to the Company A, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division. On Feb. 9, Hosfelt was killed in action when his unit was engaged by German Forces near the town of Cisterna di Latina, Italy. His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a finding of death on Feb. 3, 1945.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In March 1945, AGRC investigators recovered a set of remains designated as X-745, near the small hamlet of Ponte Rotto thought to be associated with Hosfelt. The investigators didn’t have enough identifying data to positively ID the remains and they were interred at USMC Nettuno, which is now Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. He was declared non-recoverable in 1948.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Anzio battlefield, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains designated X-745 recovered near Ponte Rotto possibly belonged to PFC Hosfelt. The remains which had been buried at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuna, Italy in 1948, were disinterred in September 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Pfc. Hosfelt’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Pfc. Hosfelt will be buried in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, on June 29, 2024.
U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. 1st Class Charles R. Powers, 18, of Riverside, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Powers was a member of 28th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Powers was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Powers died July 18,1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three of the sets of remains were recovered from Common Grave 312 but were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In January 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Powers’ grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Pfc. Powers will be buried in Riverside, California, on a July 18, 2024.
U.S. Navy Gunners Mate First Class (GM1c) George Herbert, 37, of Fall River, Massachusetts, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Herbert 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 Herbert.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries on Oahu.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the 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 GM1c Herbert.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
GM1c Herbert’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
GM1c Herbert will be buried on May 30, 2024, in Igo, California.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Bartholomew C. Loschiavo, 24, of Buffalo, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In October 1944, Loschiavo was assigned to Company A, 329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division in the European Theater. On October 1, Loschiavo was killed in action while his unit engaged German troops near Grevenmacher, Luxembourg. A witness during the battle reported Loschiavo was struck by an enemy mortar shell, injuring his legs and abdomen. While trying to reach cover, he rolled off a terrace and disappeared into cluster of grapevines. Following the battle, company medics went back to render aid but could not locate any remains of Pfc. Loschiavo. His body remained unaccounted for during, and after the war.
On February 25, 1946, American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) recovered one set of Unknown remains, designated X-323 Hamm (X-323) from the Grevenmacher village cemetery. Local residents claimed to have discovered and buried the remains in April 1945. AGRC investigators analyzed the remains, but despite their efforts were unable to make a scientific identification at the time and they were interred in the Luxembourg American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Hamm, Luxembourg.
In 2020, the family of Loschiavo contacted DPAA to ask analysts to evaluate if X-323 might be his remains. Due to the incomplete documentation of X-323, DPAA historians had to conduct a comprehensive review of combat, including all unresolved casualties in the area where the remains were reportedly found. DPAA scientific staff then compared the biological profile data for all potential candidates to the data on file for the remains, finding that Loschiavo and two other soldiers were the most likely candidates. Following that multi-disciplinary analysis, in 2021 DPAA proposed X-323 for disinterment. That proposal was approved in July 2022, which unfortunately was too late for DPAA to add X-323 to its disinterment schedule that year.
In July 2023, the Department of Defense and ABMC officials exhumed the remains of X-323 for forensic analysis and comparison to unresolved American Soldiers in the area. The remains were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Pfc. Loschiavo’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Luxembourg American Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc. Loschiavo will be buried in Buffalo, New York, on June 1, 2024.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Manuel Trujillo, 22, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1942, Trujillo served in Battery C, 200th Coast Artillery Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Trujillo was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Trujillo died July 26, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 225.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three sets of remains from Common Grave 225 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Pfc.
Trujillo’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American
Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc. Trujillo will be buried in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 26, 2024.
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Bruce H. Brown, 23, of Richmond, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December of 1942, Brown was assigned to the 401st Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy), Eighth Air Force. On December 20, Brown was co-piloting a B-17F “Flying Fortress,” nicknamed Danellen, when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German aircraft factory at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Brown’s aircraft was last seen spinning towards the ground, crashing near the village of Bernières-sur-Seine, France. Only one airman parachuted successfully, while the other eight crew members, including Brown, were still on board. A villager witnessed the crash and confirmed there was only one survivor. The War Department issued a finding of death for 1st Lt. Brown on Dec. 20, 1943.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred four sets of remains later designated as X-83, X-84, X-85, and X-86 St. Andre from Evreux cemetery. They were unable to identify the remains and were interred at the Normandy American Cemetery.
In 2011, a family member of one of the Danellen crew contacted the Department of Defense after visiting the crash site and interviewing a witness who had artifacts belonging to the Danellen. In April 2011, DPAA historians re-analyzed the unknowns associated with the crew and determined there was enough evidence to pursue the case. In October that year, a DPAA Investigation Team traveled to Bernières-sur-Seine to interview the witness and learned the crash site was completely destroyed. In March 2019, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) exhumed the unknown remains designated X-83, X-85, and X-86 St. Andre believed to be associated with the crew of the Danellen, including 1st Lt. Brown, from Normandy American Cemetery.
1st Lt. Brown’s name is recorded on the memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
1st Lt. Brown will be buried in Houston, Texas, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. George E. Davies, 27, of Portland, Oregon, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Davies was assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator bomber on which SSgt Davies was the assistant engineer was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for examination and identification.
SSgt Davies’ name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
SSgt Davies will be buried in Portland, Oregon, on June 21, 2024
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Mose E. Vance, 21, of Bradshaw, West Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Vance was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II. Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND. The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company F found itself assigned to a 7-mile sector at Reipertswiller and Wildenguth, France.
At some point on Jan 11, PFC Vance was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered. With no record of German forces capturing Vance, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a “Report of Death” in December 1945.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began looking for missing American personnel in the Reipertswiller area. At the time, they were able to recover numerous sets of remains, one of which was designated X-6904 St. Avold (X-6904). Because the remains could not be identified, they were interred in 1949 at the U.S. Military Cemetery at St. Avold, France, known today as Lorraine American Cemetery.
DPAA historians have been conducting in-depth research into Soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth and Reipertswiller, and believe that Unknown X-6904 could be associated with PFC Vance. Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission workers exhumed X-6904 in August 2022 and transferred the remains to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
PFC Vance’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
PFC Vance will be buried in Paynesville, West Virginia, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Bryan Myers Jr., 21, of Cobden, Illinois, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Sept. 1950, Myers was a member of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, during the Korean War. He was killed in action while his unit was defending the Pusan Perimeter, in South Korea. The exact circumstances of his death were unknown, and his remains were not accounted for during or after the war.
In 1950, the remains of an American soldier were recovered from a foxhole on the east side of Mt. Chulmol, near Haman, South Korea.
Investigators estimated the death to have occurred in early September but were unable to make a positive identification. The remains, designated as Unknown X173 Masan, were initially interred in the United Nations Military Cemetery Masan, before ultimately being transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In March 2019, scientists from the DPAA laboratory exhumed Unknown X-173 from the Punchbowl for scientific analysis.
Pfc Myers’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc Myers will be buried in Elwood, Illinois, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pfc. Thomas A. Smith, 17 of Grant, Michigan, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1950, Smith was a member of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Aug. 2 when his unit took part in defensive action near Chinju at the southern end of the Korean peninsula.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered, and there is no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war. Smith was never listed as a prisoner of war, and the Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps (AGRSG) was responsible for recovering, identifying, and repatriating those lost during the Korean War. In late 1950 they recovered a set remains designated as Unknown X-5077 Tanggok near the village of Hwagye, South Korea. After extensive analysis by the Central Identification Unit-Kokura in Japan was unable to identify X-5077 the remains were declared unidentifiable. In February 1956, the remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, with other Korean War Unknowns.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In March 2019, DPAA disinterred X-5077 as part of Phase One of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Smith’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Smith will be buried in Grant, Michigan, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Marcus A. Engesser, 21, of Vallejo, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1942, Engesser was a member of Company L, 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines during World War II, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Engesser was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Nine sets of remains from Common Grave 707 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 707 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Engesser’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Pfc Engesser will be buried in Vallejo, California, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Private Cecil T. Hinson, 20, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In summer 1942, Hinson was a member of the Chemical Warfare Service, U.S. Army, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Hinson was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Five sets of remains from Common Grave 215 were identified, but the remaining seven were declared unidentifiable, including those of PVT Hinson. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 215 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Hinson’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Hinson will be buried in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on a date to be determined.
Tanker
U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Nathan B. Baskind, 28, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, Baskind was assigned to Company C, 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion, as a platoon commander of four M-10 tank destroyers. According to historical war records, 1st Lt. Baskind and another man from his company were scouting ahead of their tank destroyers when enemy forces descended upon them in an ambush. The other soldier, heavily wounded, escaped the firefight and made his way back to the main U.S. force, believing Baskind was killed in the attack. Several attempts were made to retrieve Baskind’s body from the ambush point, but they could not locate his remains.
Following the end of the war, the American
Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was
tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe.
Investigators discovered a death and burial report for 1st Lt. Baskind among the
foreign records recovered from the Germans, evidently filed after the war on May
29, 1945, in Meiningen, Germany.
In early 1948, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sent
the U.S. Army one of 1st Lt. Baskind’s identification tags. It is believed the
German government likely submitted the tag to the ICRC, along with a death and
burial report, following the war.
In November 1957, the Volksbund, the German War Grave Commission, contacted the U.S. Army regarding 1st Lt. Baskind. While disinterring a mass grave of what were believed to be 24 Germans buried in the Cherbourg cemetery, a Volksbund team discovered one of 1st Lt. Baskind’s identification tags and remnants of an American-type shirt with a first lieutenant rank and tank destroyer insignia. The remains in the mass grave were commingled, and the German team was unable to separate them into individual sets. The German investigators therefore placed the remains in seven burial pouches and then re-interred them in the Marigny German War Cemetery, 40 miles south of Cherbourg. Subsequent attempts to identify the remains of 1st Lt. Baskind by U.S. and German investigators were not successful.
1st Lt. Baskind’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Soldier
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Lemuel Dent Jr., Pennsylvania missing in action during World War II, was accounted for.
In February 1945, Dent was assigned to the Company L, 3rd Battalion, 366th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Infantry Division in the European Theater.
On Feb. 8, Dent was killed near the Cinquale Canal, north of Viareggio, Italy.
Pfc Dent was on board a tank that was crossing the canal, when it was struck by enemy mortar, machine gun, and artillery fire.
His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war.
Listed On Wall/Tablet: Florence American Florence American Cemetery
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan W. Knepper, 27, of Nez Perce County, Idaho, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In summer 1943, Knepper was a pilot with the 49th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of World War II. On July 10, Knepper departed El Bathan Airfield, Tunisia, in his P-38 “Lightning” as one of many fighter waves assigned to attack enemy forces near Caltagirone, Italy, and neutralize Axis air powers.
In attempts to obstruct Axis movements from the island’s interior toward the beach where Allied forces were landing, U.S. air forces were dispatched every 30 minutes throughout the day.
Knepper’s squadron encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire, and another pilot witnessed Knepper’s aircraft veer suddenly skyward before rolling halfway over and plummeting to the ground.
There was no witness of any deployed parachute following the crash, and it was believed he was still in the plane when it crashed. Knepper’s remains were not recovered, and he was subsequently declared missing in action.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Knepper was memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Italy, a site tracking military members.
Navy Coxswain Harley E. Alexander, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Mar. 22, 2024.
On June 8,
1944, Alexander was assigned to the destroyer USS Glennon,
which struck a mine off the coast of Quinnéville, France, which forced 16
sailors overboard. Ultimately, the majority of the crew had abandoned the
vessel, but a few remained on board for salvage operations, including Alexander.
Two days later, on June 10, the Glennon was struck by multiple artillery barrages from German forces on shore, eventually causing the ship to sink late in the evening. Following the attack, 38 sailors had been wounded and 25 were missing, including Cox Alexander.
Other than the rescued sailors thrown overboard from the initial mine strike, there is not report of any recovery of other missing sailors.
The remains of Cox Alexander were not accounted for and he was deemed non-recoverable on May 4, 1949.
Harley E Alexander is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England.
Navy Fireman 1st Class (F1c) Everett C. Titterington, 21, of Milford, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Titterington 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 F1c Titterington.
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 Titterington.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
F1c Titterington’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
F1c Titterington will be buried on September 5, 2024, in Bloomington, California.
U.S. Army Corporal John A. Spruell, 19, of Cortez, Colorado, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Dec. 1950, Spruell was a member of Battery B, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions in the vicinity of Hagaru-ri, South Korea, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. At the time the circumstances for his loss were not immediately recorded, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. The Army issued a finding of Missing In Action on Dec. 6, 1950.
Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-15754 OP GLORY, was reportedly recovered near the Chosin Reservoir in the vicinity of where the 57th Field Artillery Battalion were known to be fighting. A tentative association was made between X-15754 and Spruell, but definitive proof could not be found, and X-15754 was determined to be unidentifiable. The remains were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On March 8, 2021, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-15754 as part of Phase Three of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
Cpl Spruell’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cpl Spruell will be buried in Cortez, Colorado, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Corporal Richard Seloover, 17, of Whiteside, Illinois, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Sept. 1950, Seloover was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in combat actions with the enemy along the Naktong River in the vicinity of Yongsan, South Korea, on Sept. 6, 1950. Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time. The exact circumstances of his death were unknown, and the U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death on December 31, 1953.
On Dec. 29, 1950, Unknown Remains X-348 was recovered from an isolated grave near the village of Bon-Po, roughly 5 miles from where Cpl Seloover was reported lost. The remains could not be identified as Seloover at the time, and the remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In June 2021, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-348 and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Cpl Seloover’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cpl Seloover will be buried in Rock Falls, Illinois, on a date to be determined.
Soldier
Major Kerr entered the U.S. Air Force from
Florida and served in the 606th Air Commando Squadron. On August 22, 1967, he
piloted a two-person A-26A Invader (tail number 64-17662) which took off for an
armed reconnaissance mission over road routes in Laos.
The aircraft made radio contact with a ground
control station near Route #6, and then proceeded on to reconnoiter a series of
other roads and the area around the town of Ban Ban. The Invader last made radio
contact near and reported no signs of trouble; however, ground control soon lost
radar contact with the aircraft, and it did not return from its mission.
Immediate searches were unsuccessful due to the large size of the possible loss
area.
After the war, a crash site was located, and in
2005 the navigator's remains were positively identified. Following multiple
investigations over a period of decades, possible human osseous material was
found during a 2023 mission. These remains were sent to a DPAA laboratory for
further study, and the laboratory analysis together with the totality of the
circumstantial evidence available established an association between the osseous
remains and Maj Kerr.
Major Kerr is memorialized on the Courts of the
Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also
inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Wall in Washington, DC.
Pilot
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. John E. McLauchlen Jr., 25, of Detroit, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December 1943, McLauchlen was a member of the 436th Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group during World War II. On Dec. 1, he was serving as the pilot of a B-24J Liberator bomber while on a bombing mission from Panagarh, India, to the Insein Railroad Yard north of Rangoon, Burma. After reaching the designated target, McLauchlen’s plane was reportedly hit by anti-aircraft fire, causing the left wing to burst into flames. Witnesses from another aircraft noted seeing McLauchlen’s aircraft enter a steep dive while disappearing below the clouds. It was noted that 3 enemy aircraft were also seen following the crippled plane into the clouds, and no further contact was made with the Liberator. The remains of the crew were not recovered or identified after the war, and they were all later declared Missing In Action.
In 1947 the American Grave Registration Service (AGRS) recovered the remains of what they believed to be eight individuals involved in a potential B-24 Liberator crash near Yodayadet, Burma. According to local witnesses, there were no survivors from this aviation loss and Japanese forces had instructed local villagers to bury the remains in two large graves. The AGRS designated the remains recovered from these graves as Unknowns X-505A, X-505B, X-505C, X-505D, X-505E, X-505F, X-505G, and X-505H Barrackpore (X-505A-H). The remains could not be scientifically identified at the time and were interred as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), Honolulu, Hawaii, also known as the Punchbowl.
In early 2019, DPAA received a family disinterment request for Unknown X-505A-H based on past attempts to associate the remains with other unresolved losses from southern Burma. DPAA historians reviewing the associated files believed a more likely association for the remains was possible in X-505A-H. The Department of Defense approved the disinterment request, and in October, 2020, DPAA personnel exhumed the remains from NMCP where they were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
2nd Lt. McLauchlen’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
2nd Lt. McLauchlen will be buried in Summer 2024, on Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
April 22
Navy Fire Controlman 3rd (FC3c) Class William F. Gusie, 19, of Stillwater, Minnesota, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Gusie 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 Gusie.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries on Oahu.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the 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 Gusie.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
FC3c Gusie’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing
at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
FC3c Gusie will be buried on June 12, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Soldier
U.S. Army Private 1st Class Harry Jerele, 26, of Berkeley, Illinois, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In summer 1942, Jerele was a member of the 192nd Tank Battalion, U.S. Army, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Jerele was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Jerele died December 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 804.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Two sets of remains from Common Grave 804 were identified, but the remaining two were declared unidentifiable, including those of Pfc. Jerele. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2020, the remains associated with Common Grave 804 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Pfc.
Jerele’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American
Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Pfc. Jerele will be buried in Elwood, Illinois, on October 6, 2024.
Soldier
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Harold A. Schafer, 28, of Denver, Colorado, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December 1944, Schafer was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division. After crossing the Saar River on December 6, his battalion captured wooded high ground north of Dillingen, Germany, before being stopped by fierce German resistance. Over several days, his battalion occupied defensive positions on the hill and repulsed numerous enemy counterattacks. Schafer was killed in action on Dec. 10 by enemy machinegun fire while moving to a different fighting position. His body was not recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces. When American forces were ordered to withdraw from the area on December 21, many casualties could not be recovered due to the intensity of the enemy fire.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Dillingen area between 1946 and 1950 but were unable to recover or identify Schafer’s remains. He was officially declared non-recoverable in November 1951.
In 2018, a DPAA historian studying unaccounted-for American soldiers lost during fighting at Dillingen determined that Schafer could potentially be associated to a set of remains designated X-4651 St. Avold. These remains had been recovered from the Dillingen area by AGRC investigators in 1946. In August 2021 the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), exhumed the X-4651 remains, from Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. The remains were then sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Schafer’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A
rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Staff Sgt. Schafer will be buried in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Private 1st Class Lawrence H. Williams, 22, of Norton, Kansas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In August 1951, Williams was a member of Able Company, 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th U.S. Army during the Korean War. After working with two or three other soldiers from his unit washing vehicles, Williams went for a swim in the nearby Han River, outside of Chongyang, South Korea. The other soldiers witnessed PFC Williams struggle against the fast-flowing currents of the river and eventually submerge. Rescue attempts were unsuccessful, and no search parties were able to locate Williams. The Army issued a finding of death due to “drowning” with his remains being non-recoverable on Nov. 9, 1951.
On Sept. 25, 1951, the remains of an Unknown servicemember (designated X-1945) were recovered from the Han River nearly 40 miles downstream from where PFC Williams was last seen. The distance between the loss location and the recovery point was significant, but it is believed heavy rainfall in the area could have washed the remains of PFC Williams downstream. Ultimately, attempts by the American Graves Registration Service Group (AGRS) to scientifically identify X-1945 were unsuccessful and the remains were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In March 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-1945 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
Pfc. Williams’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc. Williams will be buried in Denver, Colorado, on a date to be determined
April 16
Seaman First Class (S1c) James W. Holzhauer, 23, of Abingdon, Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Holzhauer 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 Holzhauer.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries on Oahu.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the 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 S1c Holzhauer.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
S1c Holzhauer’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
S1c Holzhauer will be buried on May 20, 2024, in the Punchbowl.
U.S. Army Private 1st Class Harold D. Wilder, 19 of Pennington Gap, Virginia,
On July 11, 1950 Private E-2 Wilder was declared a casualty of the Korean War.
In the winter of 1950, PFC Wilder was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on July 11 after his unit took part in defensive actions while engaged with enemy forces north of Chochiwon.
Unofficial enemy broadcasts stated PFC Wilder was killed in action while fighting 20 miles north of Taejon, South Korea, but his remains were never recovered or identified during or directly after the war.
Harold D Wilder is buried or memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, and at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
This is a National Parks Service and American Battle Monuments Commission location.
April 5
Navy Seaman 2nd Class (S2c) George T. George, 26, of St. Louis, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Jan. 26, 2017.
On Dec. 7, 1941, George 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 S2c George.
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 George.
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.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,766 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II.
George’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
S2c George will be buried in the Punchbowl, on May 13, 2024.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class (Pfc.) Anthony J. Lopa, 17, of North Arlington, New Jersey, who was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Lopa was a member of Delta Battery, 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons (Self Propelled) Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was killed in action fighting the North Korean People’s Army along the Naktong River, in the vicinity of Yongsan-Myeon, South Korea, on August 31, 1950. Due to the intense fighting in the region, his body could not be recovered at that time.
A set of remains was recovered near Amp’yong, South Korea, in March 1951. They could not be initially identified and were designated X-2023 C Tanggok, and buried in the United Nations Cemetery Tanggok later that month. In August 1951, the Central Identification Unit Kokura in Japan began a reexamination of X-2023 C. They made several attempts between then and August 1954 before ultimately declaring the remains unidentifiable. All 848 unidentified sets of Korean War remains at CIU-Kokura were sent to Hawaii in 1956 where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In May 2021, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-2023 C as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Lopa’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc. Lopa will be buried in Wrightstown, New Jersey, on a date to be determined.
April 4
Navy Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class (EM3c) Charles D. Brown, 22, of Arcola, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Brown was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Brown.
During efforts to salvage the USS West Virginia, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crewmen, representing at least 66 individuals. Those who could not be identified, including Brown, were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
From June through October 2017, DPAA, in cooperation with cemetery officials, disinterred 35 caskets, reported to be associated with the USS West Virginia from the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory.
Brown’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
EM3c Brown will be buried on April 20, 2024, in Humboldt, Illinois.
U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Frank J. Seiferheld, 25, of New York, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January of 1945, Seiferheld was assigned to the 348th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations.
On Jan 20, Seiferheld was the radio operator onboard a B-17 “Flying Fortress,” when it experienced engine trouble after departing Italy for a bombing raid on an oil depot near Regensburg, Germany. According to records of the mission, the pilot radioed that they were returning to the Tortorella Airfield without a fighter escort.
The last sighting of Seiferheld’s aircraft was West of Udine, Italy, roughly 45 miles North of the Gulf of Trieste
Frank J Seiferheld is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing, Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.
U.S. Army Capt. Erik F. Yde, 32, of San Francisco, California, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In June 1950, Yde was a member of Headquarters, Headquarters Battery, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. Yde was captured as a prisoner of war (POW) after his unit was forced to retreat from Wonju in the vicinity of Hoengsong, South Korea. Due to intense fighting in the area, Yde was separated from his unit and was last seen attempting to penetrate an enemy roadblock. In 1953, several POWs returned during Operation Big Switch reported Yde had been a prisoner of war and died in June, 1951, at Prisoner of War Camp #1.
In the fall of 1953, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Changsong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #1, to the United Nations Command. However, Yde’s name did not appear on any of the transfer rosters and the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, did not associate any repatriated remains with him. Yde was determined non-recoverable in January 1956.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In January 2020, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14275, a set of remains returned during Operation Glory, as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Capt. Yde’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Capt. Yde will be buried in Walnut Creek, California, on April 29, 2024.
March 28
Mess Attendant 3rd Class (Matt3c) David Walker, 19, of Norfolk, Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Walker was assigned to the battleship USS California, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS California sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it catch fire and slowly flood. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 103 crewmen, including Walker.
From December 1941 to April 1942, 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. In addition to the 42 casualties from the USS California initially identified after the attack, the laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 39 men from the USS California at that time.
The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified the remains of the unresolved crew members, including Walker, as non-recoverable.
In 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed the 25 USS California Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Walker’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Matt3c Walker will be buried on September 5, 2024, in Arlington National Cemetery.
U.S. Army Cpl. Frank V. Benak, 24, of Scottsville, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for on February 2, 2024.
In December 1942, Benak was assigned to Cannon Company, 128th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat near the town of Buna, Benak’s unit attacked enemy defensive positions in northern Papua. Benak was reported as missing in action on Dec. 5, while on a combat patrol near Buna Creek.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. A set of remains, initially found in 1944 near where Benak was killed, could not be positively identified, and he was later declared non-recoverable September 1949.
The unidentified remains from Papua New Guinea were eventually interred as Unknowns at Fort McKinley Cemetery, now Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines.
DPAA predecessor organizations began researching and recovering service members from Papua New Guinea in 1995. In May 2012, Australian Defence Force personnel looking for unresolved casualties near Buna, observed an identification tag (“dog tag”) belonging to Cpl. Benak in the possession of a village leader at Buna. Years of investigation led to the disinterment of a set of remains from Manila American Cemetery, X-168 Finschhafen #2 in January 2017. The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis.
Benak’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cpl. Benak will be buried on April 13, 2024, in Miami, Florida.
U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Frank J. Seiferheld, 25, of New York, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 20, 1945, Seiferheld was assigned to the 348th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations.
On Jan 20, Seiferheld was the radio operator onboard a B-17 “Flying Fortress,” when it experienced engine trouble after departing Italy for a bombing raid on an oil depot near Regensburg, Germany.
According to records of the mission, the pilot radioed that they were returning to the Tortorella Airfield without a fighter escort. The last sighting of Seiferheld’s aircraft was West of Udine, Italy, roughly 45 miles North of the Gulf of Trieste.
Frank J Seiferheld is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing, Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.
U.S. Army Sgt. John O. Herrick, 19, of Emporia, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, Herrick was assigned to Company B, 149th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater.
On June 6, “D-Day”, Herrick was aboard Landing Craft Infantry (Large) 92, along with roughly 200 other service members, enroute to land on Omaha Beach, in Normandy, France. As LCI-92 steamed toward the shore, it struck an underwater mine which caused the craft to burst into flames. The craft was also hit by enemy artillery fire, causing an explosion that ignited the ships fuel stores and instantly killed everyone in the troop compartment.
Due to the urgency of the situation, it was impossible for others to search for survivors. Herrick’s remains were not accounted for after the war.
Around June 10, members of the 500th Medical Collecting Company examined the wreckage of LCI-92 and noted the burnt remains of servicemen in the troop compartment, where Herrick and others were last seen. American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, removed small amounts of remains from LCI-92 and buried them in the United States Military Cemetery (USMC) St. Laurent-sur-Mer.
Beginning in 1946, AGRC analyzed the remains found in LCI-92, segregating them into four separate Unknowns (X-53, X-83, X-83B, and X-83C). Despite their efforts, AGRC were unable to identify the Unknowns at the time and they were interred in Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Normandy, France.
In June and August 2021, the Department of Defense and ABMC officials exhumed the comingled remains of the four Unknowns and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Herrick’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Sgt. Herrick will be buried November 11, 2024, in Emporia, Kansas.
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Robert Allen, 20, of Oakland, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In August of 1944, Allen was assigned to the 860th Bombardment Squadron, 493rd Bombardment Group, in the European Theater of Operations. On Aug 18, Allen was a crewmember onboard a B-24H “Liberator,” when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Roye, France.
Only one airman survived, while the other eight crew members, including Allen, were killed. German records indicate the bomber crashed roughly two kilometers west of Boussicourt, where the remains of several individuals were recovered and buried in a village cemetery near Pierrepont-sur-Avre, France.
Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred and identified six sets of remains recovered from the cemetery at Pierrepont-sur-Avre. At the time they were unable to account for Allen and one other crewmember.
In 2018, a DPAA recovery team excavated a site near Boussicourt which they believe correlated with Allen’s crash site. While there, they were able to recover possible remains along with other materials believed to be associated with the B-24H. This new evidence, along with previously unidentified remains, were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
Allen’s name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Tech Sgt. Allen will be buried in Sacramento, California, on July 12, 2024.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Jimmy D. Smith, 21, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Smith was a member of Medical Company, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He was killed in action after his unit engaged in defensive actions near Changchong-ni, Republic of Korea (South Korea), on July 30.
Due to intense fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. With no further information the Army declared Smith killed in action on July 30, 1950.
In early 1951, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interred them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Pusan. One set of remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-340 Tanggok (X-340), recovered in the vicinity of Nae-dong, South Korea, near where Smith went missing. A tentative association was made between X-340 and Smith, but definitive proof could not be found, and X-340 was determined to be unidentifiable. The remains were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. DPAA disinterred Unknown X-340 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Smith’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc. Smith will be buried in Kingsburg, California, on a date to
be determined.
Soldier
U.S. Army Pvt. Harold O. Poulter, 23, of Charleston, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In February 1945, Poulter was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division. His regiment was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Biesdorf, Germany, when he was reported killed in action by small arms fire on Feb. 8. His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces on an elevated position.
Despite various recovery attempts, Pvt. Poulter’s remains were not accounted for during or after the war.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. In 1951, remains were recovered from a wooded area southeast of Biesdorf. Remnants of military clothing, an American helmet and ammunition were found, but no identification tags or personal effects were located. The remains were designated X-8517 Neuville and interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Tunisia, known today as the North Africa American Cemetery.
In September 2022, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel exhumed X-8517 Neuville for forensic analysis and comparison with unresolved soldiers known to have been lost in the Biesdorf conflict area. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Poulter’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Luxembourg American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Hamm, Luxembourg, along with the
others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pvt. Poulter will be buried in Lerna, Illinois, on June 4, 2024.
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Paul F. Eshelman Jr., 21, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Eshelman was assigned to the 344th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, Eshelman was the radio operator onboard a B-24 Liberator bomber "Tagalong" when it was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire.
The plane crashed during Operation TIDAL
WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at
Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified
following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as
Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan,
Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for examination and identification.
To
identify Eshelman’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological
analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Eshelman name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A
rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Eshelman will be buried in Allison Park, Pennsylvania, on a date to be determined.
Soldier
U.S. Army Pfc. Noah C. Reeves, 26, of Moulton, Alabama, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1944, Reeves was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II. His battalion had been engaged with heavily fortified German forces near the town of Vossenack, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was reported killed in action on Dec. 6. Shortly after the firefight, both sides held a temporary truce along the Kall River gorge to recover their wounded and dead.
A German officer handed over Reeves’ identification tags and pay book, attesting to both his death and recovery by German forces. Members of his unit were not able to recover his body from the Germans before fighting resumed. Pfc. Reeves’ remains were not accounted for following the war.
At the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Reeves’ remains. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1951.
In 1948, a set of unidentified remains was discovered in the Hürtgen Forest on the heavily wooded slope of the Kall gorge near Mestrenger Mühle by a German resident. AGRC personnel investigated and recovered the remains, ultimately designating them X-5770. Based on the circumstances of the recovery, they believed this individual had died between November and December 1944, but were not able to scientifically identify the remains. X-5770 was interred in 1949 in what would be named the Ardennes American Cemetery.
Based on research by a DPAA historian in 2021, it was determined that X-5770 could possibly belong to Reeves. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, were disinterred in Aug. 2022 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Reeves’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American
Battle Monuments Commission site
in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War
II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Pfc. Reeves will be buried on a date and location yet to be determined.
March 18
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Michael Malek, 17, of Chicago, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
Malek 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 Malek.
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 Malek.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Malek’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Malek will be buried on June 6, 2024, in the Punchbowl.
U.S. Army Corporal Ray K. Lilly, 18, of Matoaka, West Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Nov. 1950, Lilly was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in defensive actions in the vicinity of Unsan, North Korea, November 2, 1950.
After Operation Big Switch, several returning prisoners of War (POWs), reported seeing Cpl. Lilly at POW Camp #5. It was later determined that Lilly died in captivity in January or February 1951.
In the fall of 1953, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-14682. Those remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be positivity identified as Cpl. Lilly. Those unidentified remains were subsequently buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In 2019 DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14682 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Lilly’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Lilly will be buried in Princeton, West Virginia, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Jackson M. Barbour, 19, of Memphis, Tennessee, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December of 1942, Barbour was assigned to the 401st Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy), Eighth Air Force. On December 20, Barbour was a crewmember onboard a B-17F “Flying Fortress,” nicknamed Danellen, when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German aircraft factory at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Barbour’s aircraft was last seen spinning towards the ground, crashing near the village of Bernières-sur-Seine, France.
Only one airman parachuted successfully, while the other eight crew members, including Barbour, were still on board. A villager witnessed the crash and confirmed there was only one survivor. The War Department issued a finding of death for Staff Sgt. Barbour on Dec. 20, 1943.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred four sets of remains later designated as X-83, X-84, X-85, and X-86 St. Andre from Evreux cemetery.
They were unable to identify the remains and were interred at the Normandy American Cemetery.
In 2011, a family member of one of the Danellen crew contacted the Department of Defense after visiting the crash site and interviewing a witness who had artifacts belonging to the Danellen. In April 2011, DPAA historians re-analyzed the unknowns associated with the crew and determined there was enough evidence to pursue the case. In October that year, a DPAA Investigation Team traveled to Bernières-sur-Seine to interview the witness and learned the crash site was completely destroyed. In March 2019, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) exhumed the unknown remains designated X-83, X-85, and X-86 St. Andre believed to be associated with the crew of the Danellen, including Staff Sgt. Barbour, from Normandy American Cemetery.
Barbour’s name is recorded on the memorialized on the Wall
of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments
Commission site in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing
from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Barbour will be buried in Memphis, Tennessee, on a date to be determined
Tanker
U.S. Army Sgt. Richard G. Hammond, 24, of Northwood, New Hampshire, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In Feb 1943, Hammond was assigned to Company A, 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, in the North African Theater during World War II as a crew commander of an M3 Gun Motor Carriage “half-track”. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Sbeitla, Tunisia, on Feb 17 when his half-track was struck by an enemy high-explosive tank shell. The explosion disabled the half-track and threw Hammond several yards from the wreckage. The area immediately came under heavy fire, forcing the surviving crewmembers to retreat. Witnesses maintain that while egressing from the area, they looked back several times and did not see any movement from Hammond.
He was declared missing in action, but the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. On June 1, 1949, with no evidence Hammond survived the fighting, he was officially declared non-recoverable.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Africa. On Sept 9, 1943, AGRC personnel recovered a set of remains from an isolated grave near a destroyed half-track in the vicinity of Sbeitla. At the time AGRC personnel could not conclusively identify the remains, designated X-5137 El Alia (X-5137), and they were interred in the U.S. Military Cemetery, Constantine, Algeria.
Hammond’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at North Africa American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Tunis, Tunisia, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Sgt. Hammond will be buried on May 27, 2024, in Northwood, New Hampshire
U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Robert L. E. Porter, 23, of Chicago, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In early 1944, Porter was assigned to the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Feb 24, 2nd Lt. Porter, the navigator onboard a B-24J “Liberator”, was killed in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany.
One of the surviving crewmembers reported seeing the plane on fire and in a steep dive, before eventually exploding on the ground. While two crewmembers survived, the others, including Porter, were killed in the incident. German forces garrisoned in the area documented the crash site north of Leimbach Bahnhof, near Bad Salzungen, Germany. After the crash, German troops recovered the remains of the ball turret gunner and buried them in a local cemetery. The other six crewmembers, including 2nd Lt. Porter, were unaccounted for following the war.
In March 1952, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, took custody of comingled unidentified remains recovered from Bad Salzungen Cemetery. These remains, X-9093 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9093), X-9094 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9094), and X-9095 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9095), were believed to be those belonging to 2nd Lt. Porter’s downed aircraft. At the time, identification of these remains was not possible, and they were interred in the Ardennes America Cemetery, Belgium.
In June 2021, DPAA historians and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel, exhumed X-9093, X-9094, and X-9095 from Ardennes American Cemetery and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
Porter’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Hombourg, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
2nd Lt. Porter will be buried in Elmwood, Illinois, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Cpl. Julius G. Wolfe, 20, of Liberal, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, Wolfe was assigned to Company B, 149th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater. On June 6, Wolfe was aboard Landing Craft Infantry (Large) 92, along with roughly 200 other servicemembers, enroute to land on Omaha Beach, in Normandy, France.
As LCI-92 steamed toward the shore, it struck an underwater mine which caused the craft to burst into flames. The craft was also hit by enemy artillery fire, causing an explosion that ignited the ships fuel stores and instantly killed everyone in the troop compartment. Due to the urgency of the situation, it was impossible for others to search for survivors. Wolfe’s remains were not accounted for after the war.
Around June 10, members of the 500th Medical Collecting Company examined the wreckage of LCI-92 and noted the burnt remains of servicemen in the troop compartment, where Wolfe and others were last seen. American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, removed small amounts of remains from LCI-92 and buried them in the United States Military Cemetery (USMC) St. Laurent-sur-Mer.
Beginning in 1946, AGRC analyzed the remains found in LCI-92, segregating them into four separate Unknowns (X-53, X-83, X-83B, and X-83C). Despite their efforts, AGRC were unable to identify the Unknowns at the time and they were interred in Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Normandy, France.
In June and August 2021, the Department of Defense and ABMC officials exhumed the comingled remains of the four Unknowns and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Wolfe’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Wolfe will be buried in Liberal, Missouri, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Richard J. Kasten, 24, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1944, Kasten was assigned to the 68th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in the European Theater. On Jan. 21, Kasten, a navigator on board a B-24D Liberator, was killed in action when his plane was attacked by German air forces near Écalles-sur-Buchy, France.
The aircraft ultimately crashed near Lignières-Châtelain, where four of the 11 crewmembers were killed. German forces quickly found the crash site and recovered three sets of remains, which were then interred in the French cemetery at Poix-de-la-Somme. Kasten’s remains were not reported among those buried by German forces, and he was listed as Killed In Action by October 1944.
American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) personnel exhumed American remains from Poix cemetery in June 1945, where they recovered four the remains of three of 1st Lt. Kasten's crewmates and four sets of unknown remains, including one set designated X-411 St. Andre (X-411). These remains were ultimately interred in Suresnes American Cemetery in France.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater. Teams from the AGRC searched the area around Lignières-Châtelain, but they uncovered no new leads regarding the disposition of 1st Lt. Kasten’s remains.
In April 2019, DPAA historians and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel, exhumed X-411 from Suresnes American Cemetery and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis where it was later determined the remains of X-411 belonged to Kasten.
To identify Kasten’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).
Kasten’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
1st Lt. Kasten will be buried in Battle Creek, Michigan, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pfc. Raymond U. Schlamp, 28, of Dubuque, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In September 1944, Schlamp was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division. The unit was attempting to secure terrain near Dornot, France, known as the “Horseshoe Woods” when it came under heavy German fire.
Company G was given the order to withdraw back across the Moselle River, but many men were killed during the retreat. Schlamp was among those killed, but his body could not be recovered because of the intense fighting. One year later, in September 1945, the War Department issued a “Finding of Death” as his remains were unaccounted for.
Beginning in 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Dornot, finding several unidentified sets of American remains, but it was unable to identify any of them as Schlamp. He was declared non-recoverable on March 13, 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Dornot, and found that Unknown X-22 Limey (X-22), buried at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Limey, France, could be associated with Schlamp or four other Soldiers. X-22 was disinterred in June 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Schlamp’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc. Schlamp will be buried on a date and location to be determined.
March 12
Radioman Third Class (RM3c) Starring B. Winfield, 22, of San Rafael, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Winfield 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 RM3c Winfield.
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 Winfield.
In 2003, renewed efforts to identify the Unknowns of the USS Oklahoma began with the exhumation of one of the 46 graves containing USS Oklahoma Unknowns. In 2015, DPAA received the approval to exhume the rest of the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the NMCP, which were accessioned into the Laboratory between June and November of that year.
RM3c Winfield’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
RM3c Winfield will be buried on May 9, 2024, in Arlington National Cemetery.
March 11
Navy Seaman 2nd Class (S2c) Cecil H. Thornton, 21, of Rogersville, Alabama, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Thornton 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 S2c Thornton.
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 (CIL) at Schofield Barracks. In their analysis, CIL personnel could only identify 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time.
The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 graves 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 S2c Thornton.
In 2003, renewed efforts to identify the Unknowns of the USS Oklahoma began with the exhumation of one of the 46 graves. In 2015, DPAA received the approval to exhume the rest of the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the NMCP, which were accessioned into the Laboratory for identification.
Thornton’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
S2c Thornton will be buried on March 11, 2024, in Rogersville, Alabama.
U.S. Army Pvt. James B. McCartney, 22, of Ridgeway, Colorado, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In early 1945, McCartney was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 222nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division. On March 1, McCartney was killed in action while his unit was on patrol near Wildenguth, France. The Germans never reported McCartney as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not immediately recovered.
Beginning in 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Wildenguth. None of the investigations uncovered any leads regarding the disposition of McCartney’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable on Oct. 8, 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth. and found that X-6492, buried in Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, could be associated with McCartney. X-6492 was disinterred in August 2022 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
McCartney’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
McCartney will be buried March 30, 2024, in Bakersfield, California.
March 6
Navy Fire Controlman 2nd (F2c) Class Lawrence J. Overley, 21, of Los Angeles, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Overley 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 F2c Overley.
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 Overley.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Overley’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
F2c Overley will be buried on March 27, 2024, in the Punchbowl.
February 28
U.S. Army Technician Fifth Grade Clifford H. Strickland, 25, of Fowler, Colorado, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In summer 1942, Strickland was a member of Company C, 803rd Engineer Battalion (Aviation), U.S. Army, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Strickland was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Strickland died July 29, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 215.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Five sets of remains from Common Grave 215 were identified, but the remaining seven were declared unidentifiable, including those of Tec 5 Strickland.
The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and
Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 215 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Strickland’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
His name is permanently inscribed on the “Walls of the Missing”
at the Manila American Cemetery.
Strickland will be buried in Florence, Colorado, on June 29, 2024.
Soldier
February 12
U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack W. Coy, 20, of Toledo, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In early 1944, Coy was assigned to the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Feb 24, Coy, a tail gunner onboard a B-24J “Liberator”, was killed in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany.
One of the surviving crewmembers reported seeing the plane on fire and in a steep dive, before eventually exploding on the ground. While two crewmembers survived, the others, including Coy, were killed in the incident. German forces garrisoned in the area documented the crash site north of Leimbach Bahnhof, near Bad Salzungen, Germany. After the crash, German troops recovered the remains of the ball turret gunner and buried them in a local cemetery. The other six crewmembers, including Coy, were unaccounted for following the war.
In March 1952, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, took custody of comingled unidentified remains recovered from Bad Salzungen Cemetery. These remains, X-9093 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9093), X-9094 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9094), and X-9095 Griesheim Mausoleum (X-9095), were believed to be those belonging to Staff Sgt. Coy’s downed aircraft. At the time, identification of these remains was not possible, and they were interred in the Ardennes America Cemetery, Belgium.
In June 2021, DPAA historians and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel, exhumed X-9093, X-9094, and X-9095 from Ardennes American Cemetery and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
Coy’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Hombourg, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
SSgt. Coy will be buried in Oregon, Ohio, on a date to be determined.
Soldier
February 12
U.S. Army Tech. 4th Grade (TECH4) Elmo F. Hartwick, 38, of Onaga, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 21, 2023.
In June 1944, Hartwick was assigned to Company C, 149th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater. On June 6, Hartwick was aboard Landing Craft Infantry (Large) 92, along with roughly 200 other service members, enroute to land on Omaha Beach, in Normandy, France.
As LCI-92 steamed toward the shore, it struck an underwater mine which caused the craft to burst into flames. The craft was also hit by enemy artillery fire, causing an explosion that ignited the ships fuel stores and instantly killed everyone in the troop compartment. Due to the urgency of the situation, it was impossible for others to search for survivors. Hartwick’s remains were not accounted for after the war.
Around June 10, members of the 500th Medical Collecting Company examined the wreckage of LCI-92 and noted the burnt remains of servicemen in the troop compartment, where Hartwick and others were last seen. American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, removed small amounts of remains from LCI-92 and buried them in the United States Military Cemetery (USMC) St. Laurent-sur-Mer.
Beginning in 1946, AGRC analyzed the remains found in LCI-92, segregating them into four separate Unknowns (X-53, X-83, X-83B, and X-83C). Despite their efforts, AGRC were unable to identify the Unknowns at the time and they were interred in Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Normandy, France.
In June and August 2021, the Department of Defense and ABMC officials exhumed the comingled remains of the four Unknowns and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Hartwick’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
TECH4 Hartwick will be buried in Onaga, Kansas, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Cpl. Charles R. Patten, 24, of Lebanon, Missouri, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Patten was a member of Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit was forced to retreat from the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea, on July 20. Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
After regaining control of Taejon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Taejon. One set of remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-2 Taejon. A tentative association was made between X-2 and Patten, but definitive proof could not be found, and X-2 was determined to be unidentifiable. The remains were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On February 24, 2020, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-2 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
Patten’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cpl. Patten will be buried in Lawson, Missouri, on a date to be determined.
February 9
Marine Corps Sgt. Harold Hammett, 24,
Originally born in Avery, Mississippi, Sgt. Hammett enlisted into
the United States Marine Corps in San Francisco, California, in 1940. By
November 1943, Hammett was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd 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, while the Japanese were
virtually annihilated. Hammett is believed to have been killed while his unit
attempted to secure Red Beach 2 on Nov. 20, 1943. His remains were not
identified after the war.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation. However, almost half of the known casualties were never found. No recovered remains could be associated with Hammett, and, in November 1949, a Board of Review declared him “non-recoverable.” Unknown remains designated X-247 were recovered from Cemetery 11, along with Unknown X-251. Initially these remains were considered to possibly belong to Sgt. Hammett, but at the time an association could not be made. The remains recovered were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Hawaii.
In late 2017, X-247 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
Hammett’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hammett will be buried in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Feb 16, 2024.
February 7
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Dan W. Corson, 27, of Middletown, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December of 1942, Corson was assigned to the 401st Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy), Eighth Air Force. On December 20, Corson was co-piloting a B-17F “Flying Fortress,” nicknamed Danellen, when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German aircraft factory at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Corson’s aircraft was last seen spinning towards the ground, crashing near the village of Bernières-sur-Seine, France. Only one airman parachuted successfully, while the other eight crew members, including Corson, were still on board. A villager witnessed the crash and confirmed there was only one survivor.
The War Department issued a finding of death for 1st Lt. Corson
on Dec. 20, 1943.
Beginning in 1946, the American
Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing
American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC
disinterred four sets of remains later designated as X-83, X-84, X-85, and X-86
St. Andre from Evreux cemetery. They were unable to identify the remains and
were interred at the Normandy American Cemetery.
In 2011, a family member of one of the Danellen crew contacted the Department of Defense after visiting the crash site and interviewing a witness who had artifacts belonging to the Danellen. In April 2011, DPAA historians re-analyzed the unknowns associated with the crew and determined there was enough evidence to pursue the case. In October that year, a DPAA Investigation Team traveled to Bernières-sur-Seine to interview the witness and learned the crash site was completely destroyed. In March 2019, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) exhumed the unknown remains designated X-83, X-85, and X-86 St. Andre believed to be associated with the crew of the Danellen, including 1st Lt. Corson, from Normandy American Cemetery.
Corson’s name is recorded on the memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Corson will be buried in Middletown, Ohio, on a date to be determined.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class (S2c) Joseph M. Robertson, 18, of Cincinnati, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Robertson 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 Robertson.
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, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Robertson.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Robertson’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Robertson will be buried on July 9, 2024, in Arlington National Cemetery.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. James H. Marrah, 22, of London, Ohio, killed during World War II was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Marrah served with the 415th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Marrah was serving as a co-pilot, crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for examination and identification.
Marrah’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the
Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American
Battle Monuments Commission site
in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Marrah will be buried in London, Ohio, on a date to be determined.
Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Harold L. Seifreid, 31, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December 1943, Seifreid was a member of the 436th Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group during World War II. On Dec. 1, he was serving as the radio operator onboard a B-24J Liberator bomber while on a bombing mission from Panagarh, India, to the Insein Railroad Yard north of Rangoon, Burma. After reaching the designated target, Seifreid’s plane was reportedly hit by anti-aircraft fire, causing the left wing to burst into flames.
Witnesses from another aircraft noted seeing Seifreid’s aircraft enter a steep dive while disappearing below the clouds. It was noted that 3 enemy aircraft were also seen following the crippled plane into the clouds, and no further contact was made with the Liberator. The remains of the crew were not recovered or identified after the war, and they were all later declared Missing In Action.
In 1947 the American Grave Registration Service (AGRS) recovered the remains of what they believed to be eight individuals involved in a potential B-24 Liberator crash near Yodayadet, Burma. According to local witnesses, there were no survivors from this aviation loss and Japanese forces had instructed local villagers to bury the remains in two large graves. The AGRS designated the remains recovered from these graves as Unknowns X-505A, X-505B, X-505C, X-505D, X-505E, X-505F, X-505G, and X-505H Barrackpore (X-505A-H). The remains could not be scientifically identified at the time and were interred as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), Honolulu, Hawaii, also known as the Punchbowl.
Seifreid’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American
Battle Monuments Commission site
in the Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Seifreid will be buried in Marana, Arizona, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. William L. Leukering, 28, of Metropolis, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1944, Leukering was assigned to the 816th Bomber Squadron (Heavy), 483rd Bomber Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force based. Leukering was a radio operator on a B-17G Flying Fortress that was struck by enemy anti-aircraft during a bombing raid on German air defense installations in Memmingen, Germany. Due to the damage to the B-17G the pilot ordered the crew to bail out. Six of the airmen parachuted successfully while the other five crew members including Leukering were believed to still be on board. The surviving crew witnessed the aircraft explode in an area south of Memmingen, Germany.
Leukering’s body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a finding of death on July 19, 1945.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In 1946, AGRC investigators searched the area of the crash site, they discovered two sets of remains however neither were associated with Leukering. He was declared non-recoverable July 26, 1951.
In 2012 a German researcher notified Department of Defense investigators to an aircraft crash site near Kimratshofen, Germany, possibly associated to Leukering’s B-17. This information subsequently led to an investigation in 2013 and, excavation efforts in 2018. The excavation team located possible human remains and material evidence.
In 2019, DPAA partner teams from the University of New Orleans, and Cranfield University, continued work at the Kimratshofen site, recovering additional material, which was also transferred to the DPAA laboratory.
Leukering’s name is recorded on the Walls of the
Missing at the Epinal American Cemetery an American
Battle Monuments Commission site
in Epinal, France., along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Leukering will be buried in Round Knob, Illinois, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army CPL Adin C. Norris Jr., 21, of Kansas City, Missouri, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Norris was a member of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 20 after his unit sustained heavy casualties while withdrawing from Taejon, South Korea. Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
After regaining control of Taejon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Taejon. One set of remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-266 Taejon. After extensive analysis by the Central Identification Unit-Kokura in Japan was unable to identify X-266, the remains were declared unidentifiable. They were later sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, with other Korean War Unknowns.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On July 15, 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-266 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Norris’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Norris will be buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on a date to be determined.
Fireman First Class (F1c) Walter F. Schleiter, 22, of Massillon, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Schleiter 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 Schleiter.
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 Schleiter.
Between
June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns
from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Schleiter’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Schleiter will be buried on April 11, 2024, in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.
February 5
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. James A. Deeds, 23 of Oakland, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Deeds was assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 “Liberator” bomber Kate Smith piloted by Deeds was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.
Deeds name is recorded on the Tablets of the
Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American
Battle Monuments Commission site
in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Deeds will be buried in San Diego, California, on a date to be determined.
Soldier
February 2
U.S. Army Pfc. Richard G. Pitsor, 18, of Ft. Bayard, New Mexico, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Pitsor was a member of G Company of the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Pitsor was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three of the sets of remains were recovered from Common Grave 305 but were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In January 2019, the remains associated with Common Grave 305 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Pistor’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Pitsor will be buried in Ft. Bayard, New Mexico, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. 1st Class Robert L. Colter, 23, of Lakeland, Florida, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1942, Colter was a member of 91st Bombardment Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group, in the Philippines during World War II, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Colter was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Five sets of remains from Common Grave 215 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 215 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Colter’s grave was
meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American
Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Colter will be buried in a place and time to be determined by the family.
January 30
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Henry L. Stevens, 23, of Monroe, Louisiana, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1944, Stevens was assigned to the 557th Bombardment Squadron, 387th Bombardment Group, Ninth U.S. Air Force, in the European Theater of Operations. On Dec. 23, Stevens was a crewmember aboard a B-26F “Marauder” aircraft, nicknamed Shirley D, which was shot by anti-aircraft fire over Bitburg, Germany, while returning from a bombing raid. Witness reported Shirley D took damage to the right engine, resulting in a massive fire which forced crewmen to bail out. Survivors watched Shirley D crash near Winville, Belgium, with several crewmembers, including Stevens, still onboard.
A few days after the crash, several Belgian residents recovered one set of remains from the crash site near Houmont and turned them over to American forces operating in the area. American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel initially identified the pilot, while the other set of remains remained Unknown. By Dec. 26, 1944, everyone from Stevens’s aircraft had been identified and accounted for except for Stevens, and he was declared non-recoverable.
In 2013, DPAA personnel returned to the crash site near Winville, Belgium, where they recovered materials associated with the crashed B-26. Later in 2019, while working in conjunction with researchers from the University of Wisconsin, possible remains were located and sent to the DPAA laboratory for testing and possible identification.
Stevens’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Stevens will be buried on March 8, 2024, in Bushnell, Florida.
Soldier
January 29
U.S. Army Pvt. Earl E.R. Seibert, 23, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Seibert was a member of Headquarters Company, 803rd Engineer Battalion (Aviation), when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.
Seibert was among those reported captured when
U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the
65-mile Bataan Death Seibert and then held at the
Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the
war.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three of the sets of remains from Common Grave 225 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In Seibert 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Seibert’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Records show Seibert died July 27, 1942, and he was buried along with others in a common grave #225 at the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Service exhumed those buried in the common grave and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila.
Seibert will be buried on a date and location to be determined by the family.
U.S. Army Master Sgt. Thomas Crayton, 28, of Austin, Texas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In Nov. 1950, Crayton was a member of Alpha Battery, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army.
He went missing in action and captured by enemy forces after his unit engaged combat actions in the vicinity of Somindong, North Korea, on Dec. 1, 1950.
Shortly after he went missing, Chinese forces announced MSG Crayton had been captured as a Prisoner of War.
In 1953, several POWs returned during Operation Big Switch reported Crayton had been a prisoner of war and died on Feb. 11, 1951, at Prisoner of War Camp #5.
His remains were not immediately recovered or identified after the war.
Thomas is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
Thomas Crayton is buried or memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
Tanker
January 18
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Leroy C. Cloud, 24, of Thrall, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In July 1944, Cloud was assigned to Company A, 744th Tank Battalion, as a crew member of an M5A1 Stuart light tank. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces at Saint-Germain-d’Elle, France, on July 26 when his tank was struck by an enemy shoulder-fired rocket. Two crewmembers were able to escape the vehicle, but Cloud and another Soldier were never seen or heard from again. Due to strong enemy artillery fire and intense combat, surviving crewmembers were unable to recover Could’s remains. He was declared missing in action, but the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. On Aug 16, with no evidence Cloud survived the fighting, the War Department issued a report of death.
Following the end of the war, the American
Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was
tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe.
On July 30, 1944, AGRC personnel recovered two sets of remains from an M5A1
destroyed in the vicinity of Saint-Lô. Ultimately, they could not identify the
remains, designated X-141 and X-142 St. Laurent, and they were interred in the
Normandy American Cemetery, France.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Saint-Germain-d’Elle area, a DPAA historian determined that the M5A1 Stuart tank recovered from the area belonged to Company A, where Cloud was assigned. This correlation led DPAA and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel to exhume the remains of X-141 and X-142 in April 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
Cloud’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Normandy American Cemetery, an American
Battle Monuments Commission site
in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with the others still missing from World
War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cloud will be buried in Taylor, Texas, on a date to be determined.
Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class Merle C. J. Hillman, 25, of Holyoke, Massachusetts, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Hillman was assigned to the battleship USS California, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS California sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it catch fire and slowly flood. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 104 crewmen, including Hillman.
From December 1941 to April 1942, 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.
In addition to the 42 casualties from the USS California initially
identified after the attack, the laboratory staff was only able to confirm the
identifications of 39 men from the USS California at
that time.
The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains at the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October
1949, a military board classified the remains of the unresolved crew members,
including Hillman, as non-recoverable.
Hillman’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hillman will be buried on Jan. 27, 2024, in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
U.S. Army Master Sgt. Roy E. Barrow, 39 of Valdosta, Georgia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the winter of 1950, MSG Barrow was a member of King Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 12 after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15869 Operation Glory.
The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Barrow and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In 2013, DPAA disinterred X-15869, and after a decade of scientific advances and increased historical research, DPAA was able to positively associate X-15869 to Barrow.
MSG Barrow’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
MSG Barrow will be buried in Valdosta, Georgia, on January 27, 2024.
January 16
U.S. Army Air Forces Major Theodore Willhite, 26, of Muscatine, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In March of 1944, Willhite was assigned to the 724th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations. On Mar 11, Willhite was piloting a B-24 “Liberator,” when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Toulon, France.
Eyewitnesses on another B-24 reported seeing Willhite’s aircraft spinning out of control at approximately 3000 feet before breaking apart and crashing into the sea.
All 11 crewmembers aboard the aircraft were lost in the incident and not identified following the war.
Major Willhite is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Rhone American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.
Airman
January 16
U.S. Army Air Forces Technician Herbert F. March, 24, of Cook, Washington, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, March was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. March was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, March died July 26, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 225.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three of the sets of remains from Common Grave 225 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In March 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, March’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Herbert F March is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila
American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
March will be buried in Woodland, Washington, on a date to be determined.
September
25
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Max W. Thurston, 19, of Flint, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Thurston was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His regiment was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Germeter, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was reported killed in action on Nov. 6. His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces. As American forces began to secure the area, many casualties were nonrecoverable due to dense tangled vegetation and heavy snowfall.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to identify Thurston’s remains among hundreds recovered during that period.
He was officially declared Killed in Action in November 1944.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-7476 Neuville, recovered in April 1948, possibly belonged to Thurston. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1949, were disinterred in July 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Thurston’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A
rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Thurston will be buried in Holly, Michigan on a date to be determined.
September
25
Army Tech Sgt. Leonard J. Dettloff 26, of Detroit, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Dettloff was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was killed in action on Nov. 10. Due to the tactical situation, his remains could not be immediately recovered.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Dettloff’s remains.
He was declared non-recoverable in October 1951.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-8118 St. Avold, recovered from Germeter and Hürtgen possibly belonged to Dettloff. The remains, which had been buried in Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Saint-Avold, France, in 1949, were disinterred in 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification. While analyzing X-8118, DPAA scientists also examined X-8122 St. Avold, had been recovered commingled with X-8118.
Dettloff’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Dettloff will be buried in Holly, Michigan on a date to be
determined.
U.S. Army Cpl. Lewis W, Hill, 18, of Detroit, Michigan, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Hill was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit was forced to retreat from the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea, on July 20.
Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war.
The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
After regaining control of Taejon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Taejon. One set of remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-29 Taejon. A tentative association was made between X-29 and Hill, but definitive proof could not be found, and X-29 was determined to be unidentifiable. The remains were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On July 15, 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-29 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
Hill’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hill will be buried in Imlay City, Michigan, on a date to be determined.
September
8
U.S. Army Air Forces Flight Officer Chester L. Rinke, 33, of Marquette, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1944, Rinke was assigned to the 678th Bombardment Squadron, 444th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), 58th Bombardment Wing, Twentieth Bomber Command.
On June 26, Rinke while serving as the flight officer on the B-29 Superfortress crashed into a rice paddy in the village of Sapekhati, India after a bombing raid on Imperial iron and steel works at Yawata, Kyushu Island, Japan. All 11 crew members were killed instantly in the crash.
On June 28, 1944 a team from 342nd Service Squadron, 329th Service Group visited the crash site recovering and identifying only seven sets of remains which were interred at in United States Military Cemetery in Panitola, Assam, India and subsequently disinterred and sent to their final internment on Jan. 13, 1948. By September of that same year, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) concluded that Rinke’s remains were non-recoverable.
In October 2014 the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (a DPAA predecessor organization) conducted a Joint Field Activity in Sapekhati, which led to the location of the crash site and the recovery of life support equipment and wreckage associated with the B29 aircraft. In 2018 and 2019, Southeastern Archaeological Research (SEARCH) a DPAA partner organization excavated the site and recovered possible osseous remains and material evidence.
To identify Rinke’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis as well as material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), analysis.
Rinke will be buried at Seville, Ohio, on a date to be determined.
U.S. Army Pfc. James L. Miller, 21, of Detroit, Michigan, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Miller was a member of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. Miller and the 24th Infantry Regiment took part in the unsuccessful defense of the town of Sangju in July 1950. He was reported killed in action on July 30, while fighting with the North Korean forces. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered, and there is no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war.
Miller was declared nonrecoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
After regaining control of Sanju in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Taejon. One set of remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-5156. After extensive analysis by the Central Identification Unit-Kokura in Japan was unable to identify X-5156, the remains were declared unidentifiable.
They were later sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, with other Korean War Unknowns.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On Nov. 4, 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-5156 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
Miller’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Miller will be buried in Holly, Michigan, on a date to be determined.
Army Cpl. Gordon D. McCarthy, 20, Palmer, Michigan, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, McCarthy was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
McCarthy’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 still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
McCarthy will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on date yet to be determined.
May 15
U.S. Army Pfc. Willard H. Brinks, 24, of
Grand Rapids, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1942, Brinks was assigned to the Company K, 3rd
Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, deployed in present
day Papua New Guinea. As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat to
Port Moresby, the Allied center of communications in the area, Brinks’ unit
attempted to flank the enemy defensive lines stretched across the Sanananda
Track in northern Papua. Brinks was reported as killed in action on Nov. 22, the
first day of the Allied attack.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS),
the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American
personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas
and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. A number of
remains were found in the area where Brinks was killed, but none could be
positively identified as him. He was declared non-recoverable Sept. 7, 1949.
The unidentified remains from Papua New Guinea were eventually
interred as Unknowns at Fort McKinley Cemetery, now Manila American Cemetery and
Memorial, an American
Battle Monuments Commission site
in the Philippines.
DPAA predecessor organizations began researching and recovering
service members from Papua New Guinea in 1995. Years of investigation led to the
disinterment of a set of remains from Manila American Cemetery, X-70 Finschhafen
#2 in November 2016. The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air
Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
To identify Brinks’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally,
scientists from the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Brinks’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from
WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Brinks will be buried on May 19, 2023, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Peter A. Timpo, 24, of Ecorse, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 20, 2022.
In the summer of 1943, Timpo was assigned to the 343rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Timpo was serving as the bombardier was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.
Timpo’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the
Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American
Battle Monuments Commission site
in Impruneta, Italy,
along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Timpo will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on a date yet to be determined.
U.S. Army Pfc. Donald Hofman, 19, of
Grand Rapids, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for
July 8, 2022.
In January 1945, Hofman was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd
Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. Elements of the unit
were supporting five companies attempting to secure terrain near Reipertswiller,
France, when they were surrounded by German forces while being pounded by
artillery and mortar fire. The surrounded companies were given the order to
attempt a break-out on Jan. 20, but only two men made it through German lines.
The rest were either captured or killed. Hofman was among those killed, but his
body could not be recovered because of the fighting.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in
the European Theater, searched the area around Reipertswiller, finding 37
unidentified sets of American remains, but it was unable to identify any of them
as Hofman.
He was declared non-recoverable on May 22, 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into
Soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found that Unknown
X-6376 Neuville, buried at Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle
Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, could be associated
with Hofman. X-6376 was disinterred in July 2021 and transferred to the DPAA
Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
Hofman’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal
American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Dinozé,
France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Hofman will be buried in Byron Center, Michigan, at a date yet to
be determined.
Army Pfc. Lowell D. Smith, 24, of
Battle Creek, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
In January 1945, Smith was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion,
157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. The unit was in regimental
reserve during the Battle of Reipertswiller in France. On Jan. 21, Smith was
part of a Browning Automatic Rifle squad when his company attacked German forces
surrounding several companies in an attempt to help them break out. Company F
immediately drew enemy artillery and mortar fire followed by sniper and
machine-gun fire and was forced to withdraw.
When the unit reassembled following the withdrawal, Smith was
missing. In May that year, Army personnel reviewing captured German records
discovered a German death report for Smith dated the day he went missing.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in
the European Theater, searched the area around Reipertswiller, finding 37
unidentified sets of American remains, but it was unable to identify any of them
as Smith. He was declared non-recoverable on July 19, 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into
Soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found that Unknown
X-8062 St. Avold, buried at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle
Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, could be associated with Smith.
X-8062 was disinterred in June 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at
Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
Smith’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal
American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Dinozé,
France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Smith will be buried in Augusta, Michigan, at a date yet to be
determined.
May 19
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Adolph
“Leonard” Olenik, 19, of Detroit, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Olenik was assigned to the 345th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On
Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Olenik was serving as a
gunner crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL
WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at
Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following
the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the
Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova,
Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel,
disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification.
The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and
those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle
American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated
with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were
sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination
and identification.
Olenik’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Impruneta, Italy,
along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Olenik will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Virginia. The date has yet to be determined.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Tceollyar Simmons, 18, of
Detroit, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Simmons was assigned to the battleship USS
California, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was
attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS California sustained multiple torpedo and
bomb hits, which caused it catch fire and slowly flood. The attack on the ship
resulted in the deaths of 104 crewmen, including Simmons.
From December 1941 to April 1942, 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 39 men from the USS California at that time. The AGRS
subsequently buried the unidentified remains at the National Memorial Cemetery
of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a
military board classified the 25 Unknowns who could not be identified as
non-recoverable, including Simmons.
In 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed the 25 USS California Unknowns
from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Simmons’ name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments
Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who
are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Simmons will be buried on June 14, 2022, in Hacoda, Alabama.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that 33
Sailors from the USS Oklahoma
killed during World War II were accounted for on Oct. 18, 2021.
The Sailors included in this group accounting are:
On October 18, 2021, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) made a group identification which included Musician Second Class Louis Edward Harris Jr,. missing from World War II.
Musician Second Class Harris entered the U.S. Navy from Michigan. On December 7, 1941, he was a crew member aboard the USS Oklahoma when the ship came under attack from Japanese forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Oklahoma capsized in the attack, and MUS2 Harris was among those killed in the incident. In the years following the attack, remains were recovered from the Oklahoma. Those that could not be identified at the time were buried as unknown remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2015, the DPAA received authorization to exhume unknown remains associated with the Oklahoma and reexamine them using advances in forensic techniques. A group of unidentified remains were disinterred and accessioned into the DPAA laboratory as part of this effort. A group identification was made for these remains, which included MUS2 Harris.
Musician Second Class Harris is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
The names of these Sailors are recorded on the American Battle
Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl,
along with the others who are missing from WWII.
Marine
Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Pellerito, 22,
of Grand Rapids, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
In November 1943, Pellerito was a member of Company K, 3rd
Battalion, 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, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated.
Pellerito was killed on the first day of
the battle, Nov. 20. His remains were reportedly buried in Cemetery 33.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company
centralized all American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery for later
repatriation. Almost half of the known casualties were never found. The remains
that were recovered were sent to Hawaii for analysis. Those that could not be
identified or associated with one of the missing were buried as Unknowns at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in
Honolulu, including one set designated Tarawa Unknown X-118. None of the
recovered remains could be associated with Pellerito, and, in October 1949, a
Board of Review declared him “non-recoverable.”
In 2009, History Flight, Inc., a nonprofit organization,
discovered a burial site on Betio Island believed to be Cemetery 33, which has
been the site of numerous excavations ever since. In 2014, possible human
remains and identification media were found and were turned over to the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command, a DPAA predecessor.
At the end of 2016, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-118 from
the Punchbowl as part of an effort to identify the Tarawa Unknowns buried there.
Scientific analysis determined that elements of the History Flight turnover were
associated with X-118.
Pellerito’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing
from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Pellerito will be buried Nov. 30, 2021, in Augusta, Michigan.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Joe R. Nightingale,
20, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Nightingale 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 Nightingale.
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, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In
October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as
non-recoverable, including Nightingale.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Nightingale remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces
Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Nightingale’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at
the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Nightingale will be buried Dec. 7, 2021, at
Ft. Custer National Cemetery,
in Augusta, Michigan.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Wesley E. Graham, 21,
of Watervliet, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Graham 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 Graham.
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 Graham.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Graham’s remains, scientists from DPAA
anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR)
analysis.
Graham’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Graham will be
buried 1:00 p.m. Wednesday,
October 27 at Ft. Custer National Cemetery
in Augusta, Michigan.
Army Cpl. Dale W. Wright, 19, of Flint, Michigan, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Wright was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Wright’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 still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Wright will be buried in Holly, Michigan. The date has yet to be determined.
July 23,
Navy Radioman 3rd Class Irvin F. Rice,
22, of Detroit, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Rice 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 Rice.
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 Rice.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Rice’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Rice will be buried Oct. 2, 2021, Roseland
Park Cemetery in Berkley, Michigan.
June 22
Army Pfc. Philip T. Hoogacker, 23, of
Detroit, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Hoogacker was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion,
29th Infantry Regiment. He was reported missing in action on July 27 after his
unit was attacked near Anui, South Korea. He was last seen after receiving first
aid for a minor shrapnel wound. DPAA historians believe Hoogacker was captured
by the Korean People’s Army and forcibly marched to Seoul and then on to
Pyongyang,
where he died as a prisoner of war.
In the fall of 1954, United Nations Command struck a deal with
North Korea and China regarding the recovery and return of war dead to their
rightful nations. This agreement, known as Operation GLORY, took place between
Sept. 1 and Oct. 30, 1954. A set of remains, later labeled Unknown X-16833, was
returned with three other sets of remains from a group burial. Two of the sets
of remains were identified by the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan,
but the other two, including X-16833, couldn’t be identified. They were sent to
Hawaii and interred with the rest of the Korean War recovered but unidentified
remains as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known
as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In April 2018, during Phase 1 of the Korean War Disinterment
Project, X-16833 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and transferred to the DPAA
Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam,
Hawaii for analysis.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Hoogacker will be buried July 23, 2021, in
Livonia, Michigan.
June 15,
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Raymond D.
Boynton, 19, of Grandville, Michigan, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Boynton 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 Boynton.
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 Boynton.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Boynton’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Raymond Devere Boynton is buried or memorialized at Tablets of
the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Boynton will be buried on Sept. 8, 2021, at the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Wilbur F. Ballance, 20, Paw Paw, Michigan killed during World War II, was accounted for.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Ballance will be buried on Dec. 3, 2021, at the Punchbowl.
Pilot
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Robert
Parker, 23, of Lansing, Michigan, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In November 1943, Parker was a pilot assigned to the 35th Fighter
Squadron, 8th Fighter Group. On Nov. 15, he was piloting a P-40N Warhawk fighter
on a patrol mission with seven other P-40s over the Markham River Valley, New
Guinea, when his formation encountered a swarm of enemy aircraft on the southern
edge of the Finisterre Range. After shooting down one enemy aircraft, Parker
collided with another, the impact shearing a wing off of each. The P-40 crashed
near Sagarak, and it was reported that he did not bail out. After an aerial
search of the area found nothing, Parker was declared missing in action. In
November 1944, the War Department issued a presumptive finding of death.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service, the
organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel,
conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in northeastern
New Guinea, concluding their search in April 1948. Investigators could not find
any evidence of Parker or his aircraft. He was declared non-recoverable Sept.
14, 1949.
In 2010, a team of third-party investigators visited an aircraft
crash site in Morobe Province where they found a portion of a P-40N tail
assembly and part of a possible tail number, both of which matched Parker’s
aircraft.
In September 2018, DPAA investigators visited Warom village in
the Markham district. Residents said the alleged aircraft wreckage was within
half a day’s walk from the village. The team also observed several pieces of
P-40 wreckage in the village. An attempt was made to reach the wreckage site,
but inclement weather, hazardous terrain, and time constraints prevented the
team from reaching the site. They did, however, observe a propeller blade and
landing strut located “downstream” from the reported site, and a local guide was
able to get pictures of additional wreckage.
In May 2019, DPAA investigators returned to Warom after receiving
information that residents had possible human remains reportedly recovered from
the crash site. After extensive negotiations, local officials turned over the
possible remains and a piece of the P-40 aircraft to the team, who then took
them to DPAA’s laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for
analysis.
Parker’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, along with others
still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Parker’s funeral date and location has yet to be
decided.
Army Sgt. Jesse
"Johnny "D.
Hill, 20,
Highland Park, Michigan
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Hill was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 32nd
Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on
Dec. 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin
Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be
recovered.
On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald
Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea
turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service
members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into
the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Hill’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally,
scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) analysis.
Hill’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 still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name
to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hill will be buried in Holly, Michigan. The date
has yet to be determined.
September 10
U.S. Naval Reserve Ensign Francis C.
Flaherty, 22, of Charlotte, Michigan, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Flaherty 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 Flaherty. Flaherty was posthumously awarded the
Medal of Honor for saving several crew members at the cost of his own life.
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, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In
October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as
non-recoverable, including Flaherty.
Flaherty’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Flaherty will be buried in his hometown. The date
has yet to be determined.
June 12
Navy Seaman 1st Class Wesley E. Graham,
21, from Benton Harbor, Michigan was killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Graham 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 Graham.
Place of Burial: USS Oklahoma Memorial Pearl Harbor Honolulu County Hawaii.
Graham will be buried Oct. 27, 2021, in Augusta, Michigan.
May 20
Army Sgt. William E. Cavender, 20, of
Leslie, Michigan, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Cavender was a member of Headquarters Company, 3rd
Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported
missing in action on Nov. 28, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces
near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could
not be recovered.
North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the
remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains
arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were
subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Cavender’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who
are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Cavender will be buried in his hometown
March 11
Marine Corps Sgt. Duane O. Cole, 23, of
Niles, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1943, Cole was a member of Company K, 3rd 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, while the Japanese were virtually
annihilated. Cole was killed on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. His
remains were reportedly buried in either Division Cemetery 5 or Central Division
Cemetery, later renamed Cemetery 26.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company
centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa to Lone Palm Cemetery
for later repatriation; however, almost half of the known casualties were never
found. No recovered remains could be associated with Cole, and in October 1949,
a Board of Review declared him “non-recoverable.”
To identify Cole’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Cole’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cole
died of gunshot wounds suffered on 20 November 1943.
Cole’s will be buried June 20, 2020, in Spooner,
Wisconsin.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Edward
Wasielewski, 21, of Detroit, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Wasielewski 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
Wasielewski.
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, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board
classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including
Wasielewski.
To identify Wasielewski’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System
used Y-chromosome STR DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Wasielewski name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be
placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the
Department of the Navy for their partnership in this mission.
Wasielewski will be buried Feb. 21, 2020, in San
Diego.
Marine
February 4
Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. Oscar E. Koskela, 22,
from Detroit Michigan,
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, Koskela was a member of Headquarters Company, 29th
Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, when American forces participated in the
battle for Saipan, part of a larger operation to secure the Mariana Islands.
Koskela reportedly sustained wounds in combat and was taken onboard the USS Solace for treatment. He died onboard the ship June 18, 1944.
Koskela was wounded during landing operations on 15 June 1944, and although speedily evacuated to the hospital ship Solace, ultimately died of his wounds.
Following his death, his body was delivered on shore and buried on Saipan.
After the war, Koskela’s remains were interred in Manila American Cemetery as an unknown. He was finally exhumed, identified, and accounted for on 8 June 2017.
Koskela’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Joe R. Nightingale, 20, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Nightingale 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 Nightingale.
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 Nightingale.
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.
Nightingale’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Army
Pfc. John A. Shelemba, 19,
Hamtramck, Michigan
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Shelemba will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in
Virginia.
Army Sgt. Walter H. Tobin, Jr., 22, of
Glen Lake, Michigan, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Tobin was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st
Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat
Team.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, when enemy forces attacked his unit near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. His remains could not be recovered following the attack.
North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the
remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains
arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018,
and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered all U.S. and Michigan flags
to be lowered to
half-staff in honor of Tobin.
The exact dates of Tobin's burial have yet to be finalized.
November 1
U.S. Naval Reserve Ensign Frances C. Flaherty,
22, of
(The official DoD release will be updated following the primary
next of kin briefing.)
He was a parishioner at St. Mary's Catholic Church while living
in Charlotte. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve in July 1940 and was commissioned
as an Ensign in
December of that year.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Flaherty was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was
moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese
aircraft.
The Oklahoma was based at Pearl Harbor for patrols and exercises, and was moored in Battleship Row when the attack began. Almost immediately after the first Japanese bombs fell, the ship was hit by three torpedoes and began to capsize. Those who could began to abandon ship as more torpedoes struck home. Ensign Flaherty remained in one of the ship's turrets, providing light so that the turret crew could escape.
When the Oklahoma rolled completely over, he was trapped inside the hull along with many others. Thirty-two crewmembers of the Oklahoma were rescued from inside the hull over the next few days, but Ensign Flaherty was not among them.
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 Flaherty.
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, HI
Army Sgt. David A. Feriend, 23, of Fife
Lake, Michigan, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Feriend was a member of Headquarters Company, 3rd
Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950, in the
vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains
could not be recovered.
The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam,
Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA
laboratory for identification.
Feriend will be buried Oct. 13, 2019, in Kingsley, Michigan.
Airmen
U.S. Army Air Forces Cpl. Walter J.
Kellett, 22, of Ironwood, Michigan, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In 1942, Kellett was a member of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th
Pursuit Group when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at prisoner of war camps.
Kellett was among those reported captured after
the surrender of Corregidor and held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500
POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Kellett
died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the
local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery, in grave number 312.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS)
personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the
remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In late 1947, the
AGRS examined the remains 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 interred as “unknowns” in
the present-day Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
In May 2018, 23 “unknown” remains associated with Common Grave
312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis, including one
set, designated X-2843 Manila Cemetery #2.
Kellett will be buried Oct. 5, 2019, in his hometown
Marine
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Kenneth W.
Likens, 20, of Mt. Clemens, Michigan, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In November 1943, Likens was a member of Company B, 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, while the Japanese were
virtually annihilated. Likens died on the third day of the
battle, Nov. 22, 1943. He was reported to have been buried in the East
Division Cemetery, which was eventually renamed to Cemetery #33.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company
(604th GRC) centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa to Lone Palm
Cemetery for later repatriation; however, almost half of the known casualties
were never found. No recovered remains could be associated with Likens, and in
October 1949, a Board of Review declared him “non-recoverable.”
In 2009, History Flight, Inc., a nonprofit organization, notified
DPAA that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the
remains of what they believed to be missing American service members who had
been buried in Cemetery #33. In March 2019, following continued excavations, a
previously undiscovered burial trench was uncovered. The remains were
accessioned into the DPAA laboratory.
To identify Likens’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as
circumstantial and material evidence.
June 17
Army Cpl. Charles S. Lawler, 19, of
Traverse City, Michigan, killed during the Korean War, was accounted
for.
In November 1950, Lawler was a member of Company M, 3rd
Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Nov. 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by
enemy forces near Unsan, North Korea. His remains could not be recovered
following the attack and he was not reported as a prisoner of war.
The U.S. Army declared him deceased as of Dec. 31, 1953.
North Korea
turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service
members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into
the DPAA laboratory for identification.
A burial ceremony for Lawler is planned for July 27,
2019, in Traverse City.
May 24
Navy Seaman 1st Class Edward Wasielewski,
Plymouth,
MI was
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
He had enlisted in the Navy. Served during World War II. He had
the rank of Enlisted. Occupation or specialty was Seaman First Class. Service
number was 3114243. Served with USS Oklahoma.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Wasielewskiwas 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 Wasielewski.
December 17
Navy Seaman 1st Class Robert W. Headington, 19, of Bay
City, Michigan, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Headington 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 Headington.
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 Headington.
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
Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Headington’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the
Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis,
dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material
evidence.
December 11
Navy Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Fred M.
Jones, 31, of Otter Lake, Michigan, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Jones 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 Jones.
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 Jones.
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 Jones’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which
matched a niece and a grand niece, as well as circumstantial evidence and
laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons and anthropological analysis,
which matched Jones’ records.
December 10
Navy Ensign William M. Finnegan, 44, of
Bessemer, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Finnegan 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 Finnegan.
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 Finnegan.
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 Finnegan’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
December 10
Navy Seaman 2nd Class John C. Auld, 23, Grosse Park, Michigan, United States killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, was accounted for.
John Cuthbert Auld and his brother Edwin were born in England,
the sons of Richard and Lillian Auld. The family emigrated after 1921 to the US.
Auld was a Seaman 2nd Class aboard the USS Oklahoma went it was attacked at
Pearl Harbor.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Auld 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 Thompson.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their
partnership in this recovery.
Auld's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be
placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Army Master Sgt. Carl H. Lindquist, 32,
of Willmar, Minnesota.
In late November 1950, Lindquist was a member of Headquarters
Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. The unit,
designated the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), engaged with forces of the
Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in a battle on the east side of the
Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Lindquist was reported missing in action during
the battle, on Nov. 29, 1950.
In 1954, United Nations and communist forces exchanged the
remains of war dead in what came to be called “Operation Glory.” All remains
recovered in Operation Glory were turned over to the Army’s Central
Identification Unit for analysis. None of the recovered remains could be
associated with Lindquist and he was declared non-recoverable.
One set of remains returned during Operation Glory were
reportedly recovered from an isolated grave on the east side of the Chosin
Reservoir. The remains, designated X-15902, were determined to be unidentifiable
and were interred as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
(NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2013, following thorough historical analysis and
research, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-15092 from the Punchbowl and sent the
remains to the lab for identification.
To identify Lindquist’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the
Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis,
dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as
circumstantial evidence.
Soldier
Army Staff Sgt. Marshall F. Kipina, 21,
of Calumet, Michigan, accounted for , will be buried October 18 in
Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. 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. Also lost in the crash was Army Lt. Col. Robert G. Nopp,
31, of Salem, Oregon, the aircraft’s pilot.
During the 1990s and 2000s, joint U.S./L.P.D.R. teams
investigated the incident and recommended a potential crash site in Attapu
Province, L.P.D.R. for excavation. The site, located in extremely difficult
terrain, required multiple missions to excavate. The teams recovered osseous
material, personal equipment and material evidence. Analysis of the aircraft
indicated the crash was of the same aircraft Kipina was in, and an ejection seat
component indicated at least one person was in the aircraft when it crashed.
Nopp was identified concurrently with Kipina.
To identify Kipina’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), as well as
anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence.
Marine Corps Reserve 2nd Lt. Elwood R.
Bailey, 22, of Parma, Michigan, accounted for, will be
buried October 13 in his hometown. On August 24, 1942, Bailey was a member of
Marine Fighting Squadron 223 (VMF-223), Marine Aircraft Group 23, (MAG-23).
Bailey was piloting a F4F-4 Wildcat in aerial combat with Japanese Military Air
Forces over Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, when he was reported missing in action
after being shot down.
In October 1948, a Board of Review declared Bailey’s remains to
be non-recoverable.
In April 2015, Clay Chualu, a resident of the Solomon Islands,
turned over human remains and material evidence to DPAA. The remains had been
reportedly recovered from a crash site of an F4F-4 aircraft located southwest of
Mbarana Village. The remains were subsequently sent to DPAA for analysis.
To identify Bailey’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis, which matched his records; as well as historical
and material evidence.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Robert W. Headington, 19, Bay City, Michigan was killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, was accounted for on Aug. 6, 2018.
Seaman First Class Robert W. Headington, of Sidney Street, Bay City, Michigan, was a 19-year-old printer aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941.
His remains were never Identified but is listed as one of the
approximately 390 unknowns from the USS Oklahoma that have been buried in mass
graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
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.
Headington'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.
July 6
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
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.
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 Radioman 2nd Class Albert P.
Rybarczyk, 21, of St. Joseph, Michigan, will be buried December 11 in
his hometown. On Sept. 8, 1944, Rybarczyk 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. Rybarczyk 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, 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 Rybarczyk’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 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.
Army Technician Fourth Grade Pete M.
Counter, 24, of Detroit, will be buried November 11 in Onaway,
Michigan. On Dec. 5, 1942, Counter was a member of Company C, 126th Infantry
Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, when he was killed during intense engagement
with Japanese forces in the vicinity of Soputa-Sanananda Track in the Australian
Territory of Papua (present-day Papua New Guinea.) He was reportedly buried in
an isolated grave north of Soputa.
In February 1943, the remains of an unidentified American
soldier, tentatively associated with the 32nd Infantry Division, were interred
at the U.S. Temporary Cemetery #2 at Soputa. On April 6, 1943, the remains,
designated “Unknown X-10” were reinterred at Temporary Cemetery #1 at Soputa,
then interred at U.S. Armed Forces Finschhafen #2, and redesignated “Unknown
X-171.”
In 1947, the American Graves Registration service exhumed
approximately 11,000 graves, including X-171, which was redesignated to X-2693,
and shipped the remains to the Central Identification Point at the Manila
Mausoleum in the Philippines. X-2693 could not be identified and were interred
at Fort McKinley (now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.)
In November 2016, DPAA received authorization to reexamine the
remains from the MACM. Unknown X-2693 was disinterred Nov. 4, 2016 and sent to
the laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska for analysis.
To identify Counter’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) analysis, which
matched his family, as well as dental and anthropological analysis, which
matched his records, and circumstantial evidence.
Marine Corps Reserve 2nd Lt. Elwood R. Bailey, 21, Parma, Michigan, killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
The air raid siren blared across Henderson Field at around 1400 hours on August 24, 1942. A Japanese flight of 15 bombers, escorted by 12 Zero fighters, was on its way. VMF-223 quickly scrambled as many planes as possible, and intercepted the enemy at 1425. The first wave released its bombs with little effect, and the second was stopped altogether by the Wildcat fighters. Nearly every American who flew that day scored a hit; many had one or more confirmed kills.
Lieutenant Elwood Bailey
was seen to flame two Zeros before breaking out of the fight. (2) His smoking
Wildcat, F4F-4 02095, headed out to sea, and the pilot was observed bailing out
near the occupied island of Tulagi, but he never returned to American lines.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released
7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
DPAA is grateful to Mr. Klement Chualo, a Solomon Islander, for
his assistance in this recovery.
Bailey’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 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 World War II, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Francis J. Pitonyak, 25, of Detroit, Michigan will be buried September 22 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On Oct. 28, 1943, Pitonyak was a member of the 36th Fighter Group, 8th Fighter squadron and was the pilot of a single-seat fighter aircraft. Pitonyak led a formation of four aircraft from Wards Airdome near Port Moresby, Territory of Papua on an armed patrol mission to Nadzab in the Markham River Valley. Due to rapidly deteriorating weather conditions and loss of visibility one of the four pilots aborted the mission, returned to base and immediately reported the other three pilots missing. The following day, an aerial search was conducted for the missing aircraft, with no results. The U.S. Army declared Pitonyak deceased as of Oct. 28, 1943.
In June 1987, a team of investigators from the U.S Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, accompanied by local witnesses, located the wreckage of an aircraft in the vicinity of Urulau Village, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea. The wreckage, which was largely intact, included a serial number consistent with the aircraft piloted by Pitonyak. In October 1988, a second team visited the crash site and noted the positioning of the wreckage suggested a low-angle controlled impact or hard landing, but they were unable to recover remains or flight equipment. In July 2016, a DPAA recovery team recovered possible dental remains and supporting material evidence from a site located in the vicinity of Urulau Village, Kerema District, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea.
To identify Pitonyak’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental analysis, which matched his records, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Donald E. Underwood, 23, Detroit, Michigan killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
Underwood, who was 23, was a member of the Army Air Forces during World War II. He was aboard a bomber known as the “Miss Bee Haven” when it crashed in shallow water after takeoff from the Gilbert Islands in January 1944. Bodies were recovered and buried.
On Jan. 21, 1944, Underwood was a member of the 38th Bombardment Squadron, (Heavy), 30th Bombardment Group, stationed at Hawkins Field, Helen Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, when his B-24J bomber crashed shortly after take-off. Witnesses noted the plane was unable to gain altitude and crashed into the water, killing all 10 members on board.
Interment services are pending; more details will be released 7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
DPAA is grateful to History Flight, Inc., for their partnership in this mission.
Underwood’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 WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Remains of Machinist Mate First Class Fred M. Jones, 30 of Port Huron, Michigan killed in the attack on the USS Oklahoma during World War II, have now been identified.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Jones 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 Jones. No single vessel at Pearl Harbor, with the exception of the USS Arizona, suffered as many fatalities.
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 Jones.
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.
DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence were used in the identification of his remains.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert R. Cummings, 20, of Manistique, Michigan, will be buried March 4 in Clarksville, Tennessee. In late November, 1950, after several months of battle alongside the United Nations Command and Republic of Korea against the Korean People’s Army, an estimated 300,000 soldiers of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces attacked the unit during an allied movement north near the Yalu River. Facing constrictive terrain, poor weather conditions and being outnumbered, the advancing U.S. forces were facing unfavorable circumstances. The 187th regiment was moved to positions along the Chongchon and Kuryong rivers in order to preserve lines of communication. The regiment assembled a reconnaissance patrol to gather enemy information on Nov. 29, 1950, when it encountered an enemy ambush near Hajoyang, North Korea. Following this ambush, Cummings was declared missing in action.
**Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea returned 208 boxes of commingled human remains to the United States, which we believe to contain the remains of at least 400 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents included in the repatriation indicate that some of the remains were recovered from the vicinity where Cummings was believed to have died.
In the identification of Cummings’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence, dental comparison, and forensic identification tools, including mitochondrial DNA analysis, Y-chromosome short tandem repeat DNA analysis and autosomal (nuclear) DNA testing, which matched a sister and a brother.
November 23, 2016
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. Daniel Hunt, 18, of Columbiaville, Michigan, will be buried Dec. 2 in Phoenix, Arizona. On Sept. 28, 1951, Hunt was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, in the vicinity of Hill 1030, conducting operations near an area referred to as Heartbreak Ridge. The Chinese launched an attack, which the company repelled. They were then ordered to move east and attack the enemy on Hill 867 nearby. Prior to their attack, the enemy launched a barrage of mortar fire against the Americans, and survivors withdrew to friendly lines. Following the withdrawal, Hunt was reported missing in action.
During an investigation by the U.S. Army Casualty office, three members of Hunt’s unit reported that he had been killed during the fight. Based on this information, the U.S. Army declared him deceased.
On Feb. 12, 2016, the Republic of Korea unilaterally turned over remains believed to be unaccounted-for Americans from the Korean War. The recovered remains were reported to have been found near Heartbreak Ridge.
To identify Hunt’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial, Y-chromosome short tandem repeat and autosomal DNA analysis, which matched two brothers, as well as anthropological analysis, which matched his records and circumstantial evidence.
Daniel was born February 10, 1933 to Ownie and Lillie (White) Hunt. He was one of seventeen children. Daniel joined the Army with his brother, John, and was a member of A Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On September 28, 1951 Daniel's Company was attacked in an area later referred to as Heartbreak Ridge.
October 14, 2016
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Bullis’ name did not appear on any POW list provided by the CPVF or the North Korean People’s Army, however four repatriated American prisoners of war reported that Bullis died at Pukchin-Tarigol Camp Cluster in early 1951. Based on this information, a military review board amended Bullis’ status to deceased in 1951.
In April and May of 2005, a Joint Recovery Team conducted the 37th Joint Field Activity in Unsan County, South Pyongan Province, North Korea. On April 19, the team visited a site reported by a local witness to contain American remains.
To identify Bullis’
remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory
used mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched a brother and nephew, as well as
anthropological analysis, which matched his records and circumstantial evidence.
In late
November 1950, Bullis was a member of Medical Company, 9th Infantry Regiment,
2nd Infantry Division, fighting units of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF)
in North Korea, in a delaying action south to Kunu-ri. Within days, the regiment
had lost half of its assigned men against attacks from the CPVF. The unit was
ordered to withdrawal, and when Bullis could not be accounted for, he was
declared missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950.In April and
May of 2005, a Joint Recovery Team conducted the 37th Joint Field Activity in
Unsan County, South Pyongan Province, North Korea.
On Dec. 1, 1950, his unit was captured by Chinese soldiers in North Korea. Bullis received little in the way of nourishment as his captors marched their improperly dressed prisoners across the Korean peninsula at night, to avoid detection by allied planes. The combination of short rations and cold temperatures took its toll on Bullis and the other soldiers in his unit. Nearly every morning one or more of them died. Only 31 of the 133 captured soldiers survived. Cpl. Milton Bullis did not. He passed away due to malnutrition and exposure sometime in March of 1951, at the age of 19.
Lab analysis, in conjunction with the totality of circumstantial evidence available, established Bullis’ remains were included
Missing From World War II
Accounted For
September 23, 2016
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Robert W. Ward, 22
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Robert W. Ward, 22, of Pontiac, Michigan, will be buried Oct. 1 in his hometown. On Dec. 23, 1944, Ward was assigned to the 559th Bombardment Squadron, 387th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. Ward was the co-pilot of a B-26C Marauder, with eight other crew members, that crashed after being struck by enemy fire while on a bombing mission against enemy forces near Philippsweiler, Germany. Ward and one other of the nine-member crew were reported killed in action. The other seven crewmen survived the crash by parachuting to safety; however, one crewman was captured by enemy forces and was reported to have died in captivity. His remains were later returned to U.S. custody. Ward and the other crewman killed in action were not recovered during the war.
In April 2009, a Department of Defense (DoD) team traveled to Philippsweiler to interview several Germans who recalled an American war-time crash. The team surveyed the possible crash site. Between June 2010 and July 2011, two DoD recovery teams excavated the suspected crash site, recovering human remains and aircraft wreckage.
To identify Ward’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used forensic identification tools to include mitochondrial DNA, which matched his nieces.
Soldier Missing From Korean War
Accounted For
September
1, 2016
Army Cpl. Curtis J. Wells, 19 of Ubly, Michigan
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Curtis J. , 19, of Ubly, Michigan, will be buried Sept. 10 in Harbor Beach, Michigan. In late November 1950, while Wells was assigned to Company C, 65th Engineer Combat Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, his company joined with Task Force (TF) Wilson to fight the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in the vicinity of Unsan, North Korea. The TF was overwhelmed by a large force of CPVF soldiers, and by Nov. 27, 1950, they began to extricate themselves south and Company C returned to the control of the battalion. As the battalion attempted to account for its casualties, Wells was reported missing in action.
Wells’ name did not appear on any POW list provided by the CPVF or the Korean People’s Army, nor did any repatriated American POWs have any information about Wells.
In late 1953, as part of a prisoner of war exchange, known as “Operation Big Switch,” no repatriated Americans had any knowledge of Wells’ whereabouts. As a result of this, the U.S. Army declared him deceased as of March 18, 1954.
In October 1998, during a Joint Recovery Operation, a U.S./North Korean recovery team excavated a site in Kujang County, North P’yongan-Pukto Province, North Korea, based on information provided by witnesses concerning buried American soldiers. This site correlated with the area of the battle between TF Wilson and the CPVF.
To identify Wells’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence, DNA analysis, including mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat and autosomal DNA, which matched two brothers, as well as dental and anthropological analysis, which matched Wells’ records.
Soldier Missing From Korean War
Accounted For
June 20, 2016
Army Cpl. George P. Grifford, 18
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. George P. Grifford, 18, of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, will be buried June 27, 2016 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington D.C. On Nov. 30, 1950, Grifford was a member of the 37th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near Kunu-ri, North Korea. He was reported missing in action after the battle.
In 1953, the Chinese reported that Grifford died Feb. 6, 1951, while being held prisoner in North Korea. Based on this information, a military review board amended his status to deceased.
In 1954, United Nations and communist forces exchanged the remains of war dead in what came to be called “Operation Glory.” All remains recovered in Operation Glory were turned over to the Army’s Central Identification Unit for analysis. The remains they were unable to identify were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, known as the “Punchbowl.”
To identify Grifford’s remains, scientists from DPAA used circumstantial
evidence, dental analysis, and chest radiographs, which matched
Grifford’s records.
Soldier Missing From Korean War
Accounted For
April 7, 2016
Army Cpl. Dennis D. Buckley, 24,
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Dennis D. Buckley, 24, of Detroit, Michigan will be buried April 14, 2016 in Rittman, Ohio. On Feb. 5, 1951, Buckley was assigned to A Battery, 15th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, which was supporting the South Korean Army attacks against units of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in the area known as the Central Corridor in South Korea. The CPVF launched a counterattack, overwhelming neighboring units and leaving the 15th Field Artillery Battalion behind enemy lines. As the unit conducted a fighting withdrawal south toward Wonju, Buckley went missing near Hoengsong and was reported missing on February 13.
Captured by Chinese forces on Feb. 5, 1951, at the age of 23, near Wonju, when U.S. Army units were supporting the Republic of Korea against units of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces.
Buckley’s remains were not located after the CPVF units withdrew north in March 1951, nor by the U.S. Army Graves Registration Service during organized searches in 1953. Additionally, his name never appeared on any list of Americans who were in custody of the North Koreans or the CPVF.
However, a repatriated American prisoner of war provided information that Buckley was captured by the CPVF and died in their custody at the Suan POW camp. Based on this information, the U.S. Army declared Buckley dead on June 30, 1951.
To identify Buckley’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used dental comparison analysis, which matched his records; mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA analysis, which matched a brother and a sister; anthropological analysis; as well as circumstantial evidence.
NO MICHIGAN POW/MIA's REPORTED IN 2015
Michigan's POW/MIA's from 2014
Missing From World War II
Accounted For
October 24, 2014
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, lost during World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine Pvt. Robert J. McConachie, 18, of Detroit, will be buried Nov. 3, in Augusta, Mich., In June 1945, McConachie was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and was deployed to Okinawa, Japan. As his unit took part in the battle with enemy forces on Kunishi Ridge, it sustained heavy losses. McConachie was reported killed in action June 14, 1945.
On Nov. 23, 1987, the Army’s Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI) received remains from the U.S. Air Force Mortuary at Camp Kinser in Okinawa, Japan. The remains were recovered from Kunishi Ridge where McConachie was lost, and were believed to be those of an American service member from World War II. Efforts to identify the remains proved unsuccessful at that time.
Due to technological advances in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing, the case was re-examined in 2010 by Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Affairs analysts to identify possible individuals who were unaccounted for from this battle and to facilitate family reference sample collection.
In the identification of McConachie, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used forensic identification tools including dental comparisons which matched his records and mtDNA which matched his brother.
Soldier Missing From Korean War
Accounted For
June 23, 2014
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. William N. Bonner, 23, of Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., will be buried June 28, in his hometown. On Nov. 2, 1950, Bonner was assigned to Medical Company, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, when his unit was attacked by Chinese forces near Unsan, North Korea. Bonner was reported last serving as a litter bearer near the battalion aid station when the area was overrun by enemy forces.
In 1953, as part of a prisoner exchange, known as Operation Big Switch, returning U.S. service members reported that Bonner had been captured by the Chinese and died from malnutrition in early 1951, in the prisoner of war (POW) camp known as Camp 5, near Pyoktong, North Korea.
During Operation Glory in September 1954, United Nations and Chinese forces exchanged the remains of war dead, some of which were reportedly recovered from POW Camp 5. When a military review board declared the remains as unidentifiable, the remains were transferred to Hawaii to be buried as unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the “Punchbowl.”
In 2013, due to advances in forensic science, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) determined there was a possibility of identifying the remains. After extensive historical and analytical research, the unknown remains were disinterred for analysis and possible identification.
To identify Bonner’s remains, scientists from JPAC used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including radiograph comparisons and dental records which matched Bonner’s records.
Soldier Missing From
Vietnam War Accounted For
June 26. 2013
Army Spc. 5 John L. Burgess, 21, of Sutton Bay, Mich.,
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that an Army soldier, missing from the Vietnam War, has been accounted for and will be buried with full military honors along with two of his crew members.
Army Spc. 5 John L. Burgess, 21, of Sutton Bay, Mich., was the crew chief of a UH-1H Iroquois helicopter that crashed in Binh Phuoc Province, South Vietnam. Also, killed in the crash were 1st Lt. Leslie F. Douglas Jr., of Verona, Miss.; lst Lt. Richard Dyer, of Central Falls, R.I.; and Sgt. 1st Class Juan Colon-Diaz, of Comerio, Puerto Rico. Another crew member, Pfc. John Goosman, survived the crash and was rescued. Remains representing Dyer, Colon-Diaz, and Burgess, will be buried as a group in a single casket, on July 2, at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
On June 30, 1970, while on a command and control mission, the helicopter was struck by enemy fire, causing it to crash. Shortly thereafter, friendly forces recovered remains of Douglas, Colon-Diaz, and Dyer. The three men were individually identified and buried with full military honors. At that time, no remains were attributed to Burgess.
From 1992 to 2012, more than a dozen joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams investigated the case, in Binh Phuoc Province, recovering human remains, personal effects, military equipment, and aircraft wreckage associated with this loss.
Burgess was accounted for using forensic and circumstantial evidence.
February 7, 2013
Cpl. Robert W. Scott, 19, of Detroit,
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Cpl. Robert W. Scott, 19, of Detroit, will be buried Feb. 11, in Sarasota, Fla. In late November 1950, Scott and elements of the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT) were deployed along the eastern banks of the Chosin Reservoir near Sinhung-ri, South Hamgyong Province, in North Korea. Scott was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after his unit was engaged by vastly superior number of enemy forces.
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. service members. North Korean documents, turned over with some of the boxes, indicated that some of the human remains were recovered from the area where Scott was last seen.
In the identification of the remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, such as mitochondrial DNA–which matched Scott’s brother.
Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials. Today, more than 7,900 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.
January 9
Army Pfc. Ernest V. Fuqua Jr., 21, of Detroit,
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, were recently identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. Ernest V. Fuqua Jr., 21, of Detroit, will be buried Jan. 15, in Rochester Hills, Mich. In late November 1950, units of the 35th Infantry Regiment and allied forces were deployed in a defensive line advancing across the Ch’ongch’on River in North Korea, when Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces enemy forces attacked their position. American units sustained heavy losses as they withdrew south towards the town of Unsan. He was listed as killed in action on Nov. 28, 1950.
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of human remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen. North Korean documents, turned over with some of the boxes, indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the area where Fuqua was believed to have died in 1950, near the Ch’ongch’on River.
To identify the remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence, and forensic identification tools such as dental comparisons, mitochondrial DNA which matched Fuqua’s brother.
August 24
Army Cpl. Kenneth R. Block, 22, of Ann Arbor, Mich
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, were recently identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Kenneth R. Block, 22, of Ann Arbor, Mich., will be buried Aug. 29, in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. In late November 1950, Block and elements of the 31st Regimental Combat Team, known as “Task Force Faith,” were advancing along the eastern banks of the Chosin Reservoir, in North Korea, when they came under attack. On Dec. 3, 1950, Block, along with many other Americans, was listed as missing in action as a result of the heavy fighting.
In September and October 2001, two joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a mass grave that had been discovered on the eastern shore of the Chosin Reservoir. Human remains, of at least 12 individuals were recovered, along with two military identification tags and military equipment.
For 2004 through 2011 scientists from JPAC used mitochondrial DNA to determine the identification of six of the soldiers, who served with Block as part of Task Force Faith. To identify Block’s remains, experts used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including radiograph and dental comparisons.
May 24
Army Pfc. Arthur W. Leiviska, 18, of Calumet, Mich
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. Arthur W. Leiviska, 18, of Calumet, Mich., will be buried May 28, in his hometown. On Jan. 20, 1951, Leiviska, of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, was reported missing in action, when he failed to return from a reconnaissance patrol near Yangyon-ni, South Korea.
In 1953, returning Americans who had been held as prisoners of war reported that Leiviska had been captured by the Chinese on Jan. 20, 1951. He died several months later as a result of malnutrition while being held as a prisoner of war in the camp known as “Bean Camp” in Suan County, North Korea.
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of human remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen. North Korean documents, turned over with some of the boxes, indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the area where Leiviska had reportedly died while in captivity.
To identify the remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence, and forensic identification tools including mitochondrial DNA – which matched Leiviska’s sister and niece.
Missing From World War II
Accounted For
June 5,
2012
Marine Corps Pfc. John A. Donovan, 20, of Plymouth, Mich.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine Corps Pfc. John A. Donovan, 20, of Plymouth, Mich., will be buried June 8, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Donovan was a crewmember aboard a PBJ-1 aircraft that failed to return from a night training mission over the island of Espiritu Santo, in what is known today as Vanuatu. None of the crew was recovered and in 1945 they were officially presumed deceased.
In 1994, a group of private citizens notified the U.S. that aircraft wreckage had been found on the island of Espiritu Santo. Human remains were recovered from the site at that time and turned over to the Department of Defense.
In 1999, a survey team traveled to the site, which was located at an elevation of 2,600 ft. in extremely rugged terrain, and determined that recovery teams would need specialized mountain training to safely complete a recovery mission. In 2000, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) team visited the site and recovered human remains. From 2009 to 2011, multiple JPAC recovery teams excavated the site and recovered additional remains, aircraft parts and military equipment.
Scientists and analysts from JPAC used circumstantial evidence and dental records in the identification of Donovan’s remains.
February 27
Staff Sgt. Ahmed K. Altaie, of Ann Arbor, Mich.
DOD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On Feb. 25, the armed forces medical examiner at the Dover Port Mortuary in Dover, Del., positively identified the remains of Staff Sgt. Ahmed K. Altaie, of Ann Arbor, Mich. He was assigned to the Provincial Reconstruction Team, Divisional Training Center, Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
On Dec. 11, 2006, a casualty review board declared Altaie “missing – captured” after his disappearance in Baghdad, Iraq on Oct. 23, 2006. Altaie was the final missing soldier and casualty to be recovered from the Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn mission.
June 13
P.O.W. Army Cpl. A.V. Scott, 27, of Detroit,
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. A.V. Scott, 27, of Detroit, will be buried June 22 at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. On Feb. 12, 1951, Scott’s unit, the 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, was supplying friendly forces approximately 70 miles east of Seoul, South Korea, when Chinese Communist units attacked the area and forced a withdrawal. Scott was captured by enemy forces and marched north to a prisoner of war camp in Suan County, North Korea. Surviving POWs within the camp reported Scott died in April 1951.
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen. North Korean documents turned over with one of the boxes indicated the remains were exhumed near Suan County, which correlates with Scott’s last known location.
Among forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC used dental comparisons and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Scott’s cousins—in the identification.
April 22.
2011
Army Staff Sgt. Melvin C. Dye, of Carleton, Mich
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Army Staff Sgt. Melvin C. Dye, of Carleton, Mich., will be buried on April 26, 2011, at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. The men were aboard a UH-1H Iroquois helicopter on Feb. 19, 1968, when it was shot down by enemy fire in Laos. They were involved in an attempt to extract a long-range reconnaissance patrol in the mountains of Attapu Province. Three other American service members survived the crash and were rescued, but three Vietnamese Montagnards did not survive.
Several hours after the crash a team was dispatched to survey the location and reported seeing remains of at least five people. Enemy activity prevented remains recovery at that time. The following month a second team was sent to the crash site but found no remains.
In 1995, a joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic team traveled to the recorded grid coordinates for the crash site but found no evidence of a helicopter crash. The team then surveyed a second location in the area where they found helicopter wreckage and human remains.
In 2006, a follow-on team was not able to resurvey the same site due to severe overgrowth and time constraints. Another team excavated the location in late 2007 recovering human remains, wreckage and military-related equipment.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of some of the crewmembers’ families – as well as dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.
March 3,
2011
Capt. Lewis J. Geerlings, 36, Freemont, Mich
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of four U.S. servicemen and one civilian, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Capt. Lewis J. Geerlings, 36, Freemont, Mich will be buried today in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
On May 10, 1944, the five were aboard a B-25C Mitchell bomber which took off from Ajaccio, Corsica, on a courier mission to Ghisonaccia, Corsica. They failed to reach the destination and were officially reported missing on May 13, 1944. Two days later French police reported finding aircraft wreckage on the island’s Mount Cagna.
The U.S. Army’s Graves Registration Command visited the crash site in 1944 and reported remains were not recoverable.
In May 1989, Corsican authorities notified U.S. Army Memorial Affairs Activity-Europe that they had found wreckage of an American WWII-era aircraft and turned over human remains collected at the mountainous location. They sent a survey team to the site and determined the terrain was too rugged to support a recovery effort. In 2003 and 2004, two French nationals provided U.S. authorities crew-related equipment recovered from the crash site.
A team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) excavated the location in September 2005 and recovered additional human remains as well as more crew-related equipment.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA–which matched that of some of the crewmembers’ families–in the identification of the remains.
January 11. 2011
Air Force Col. James E. Dennany, 34, of Kalamazoo, Mich., Maj. Robert L. Tucci, 27, of Detroit,
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Air Force Col. James E. Dennany, 34, of Kalamazoo, Mich., and Maj. Robert L. Tucci, 27, of Detroit, will be buried as a group Jan. 14, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth National Cemetery. On Nov. 12, 1969, they were flying the number three aircraft of three F-4Ds escorting an AC-130 gunship on a night strike mission over Laos. After the gunship attacked six trucks, setting two of them on fire, the AC-130 crew’s night vision equipment was impacted by the glow from the fires. They requested that Tucci attack the remaining trucks. During the attack, gunship crew members observed anti-aircraft artillery gunfire directed at Tucci’s plane followed by a large explosion. No radio transmissions were heard from the F-4D following the attack and no parachutes were seen in the area. An immediate electronic search revealed nothing and no formal search was initiated due to heavy antiaircraft fire in the area.
Beginning in the mid-1990s analysts at DPMO and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) developed case leads they collected from wartime reporting and archival research.
In 1994, a joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team led by JPAC analyzed leads, interviewed villagers, and surveyed five reported crash sites near the record loss location with negative results.
In 1999, during another joint survey, officials in Ban Soppeng, Laos, turned over remains later determined to be human, two .38 caliber pistols and other crew-related equipment that villagers had recovered from a nearby crash site. Between 1999 and 2009, other joint U.S.-L.P.D.R. teams pursued leads, interviewed villagers, and conducted three excavations. They recovered aircraft wreckage, human remains, crew-related equipment and personal effects.
JPAC scientists used forensic tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of the remains.
October 8
Sgt. Donald M. LaForest, of Bay City, Mich
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Sgt. Donald M. LaForest, of Bay City, Mich. U.S. Army. They will be buried Oct. 14 at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington D.C.
Representatives from the Army met with the soldiers’ next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
In early November 1950, the men were assigned to the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division occupying a defensive position near the town of Unsan in the bend of the Kuryong River known as the “Camel’s Head.” Two enemy elements attacked the U.S. forces, collapsing their perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. The soldiers’ unit was involved in heavy fighting which devolved into hand-to-hand combat around their command post. Almost 400 men of the 8th Cavalry Regiment were reported missing in action or killed in action from the battle at Unsan.
In late November 1950, a U.S. soldier captured during the battle of Unsan reported during his debriefing that he and nine other American soldiers were moved to a house near the battlefield. The POWs were taken to an adjacent field and shot. Three of the 10 Americans survived, though one later died. He provided detailed information on the location of the incident and the identities of the other soldiers.
Following the armistice in 1953 and the release of POWs, the other surviving soldier confirmed the details provided in 1950.
In May 2004, a joint U.S.-North Korean team excavated a mass grave near the “Camel’s Head.” An elderly North Korean national reported that he had witnessed the death of seven or eight U.S. soldiers near that location and provided the team with a general description of the burial site.
The excavation team recovered human remains and other personal artifacts, ultimately leading to the identification of seven soldiers from that site. Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC used dental comparisons for both men and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA, which matched that of each soldier’s relatives in the identification of their remains.
June 10,
2010
Fireman Third Class Gerald G. Lehman, of Hancock, Mich.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Fireman Third Class Gerald G. Lehman, of Hancock, Mich., U.S. Navy. He will be buried Saturday in Hancock.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, the battleship USS Oklahoma suffered multiple torpedo hits and capsized. As a result, 429 sailors and Marines died. Following the attack, 36 of these servicemen were identified and the remaining 393 were buried as unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 2003, an independent researcher contacted the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) with information he believed indicated that one of the USS Oklahoma casualties who was buried as an unknown could be positively identified. After reviewing the case, JPAC exhumed the casket and discovered that it contained Lehman’s remains.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used dental comparisons and mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of his sister and nieces -- in the identification of Lehman’s remains.
More than 400,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II died. At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover, identify and bury approximately 79,000 as known persons. They include those buried with honor as unknowns, those lost at sea, and those missing in action. That number also includes the 1,100 sailors entombed in the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Today, more than 72,000 Americans remain unaccounted-for from WW II.
NO MICHIGAN POW/MIA's REPORTED IN 2009
April 25,
2008
Tech. Sgt. Robert C. Morgan, of Flint, Mich.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of 11 U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Tech. Sgt. Robert C. Morgan, of Flint, Mich.; U.S. Army Air Forces. The dates and locations of the funerals are being set by their families.
Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men in their hometowns to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
On Dec. 3, 1943, these men crewed a B-24D Liberator that departed Dobodura, New Guinea, on an armed-reconnaissance mission over New Hanover Island in the Bismarck Sea. The crew reported dropping their bombs on target, but in spite of several radio contacts with their base, they never returned to Dobodura. Subsequent searches failed to locate the aircraft.
In 2000, three Papua New Guineans were hunting in the forest when they came across aircraft wreckage near Iwaia village. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) was notified and began planning an investigation. In 2002, a JPAC team traveled to Deboin Village to interview two individuals who said they knew where the crash site was, however the witnesses could not relocate the site.
In 2004, the site was found about four miles from Iwaia village in Papua New Guinea where a JPAC team found an aircraft data plate that correlated to the 1943 crash.
Between 2004 and 2007, JPAC teams conducted two excavations of the site and recovered human remains and non-biological material including some crew-related artifacts such as identification tags.
Among dental records, other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.
January 23
Pfc. Billy M. MacLeod, U.S. Army, of Cheboygan, Mich
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Pfc. Billy M. MacLeod, U.S. Army, of Cheboygan, Mich. He was buried Saturday in Cheboygan.
Representatives from the Army met with MacLeod’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
MacLeod was a member of Company B, 32nd Infantry Regiment, then making up part of the 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, operating along the eastern banks of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. From Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 1950, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces overran the U.S. positions, forcing their southward withdrawal. Regimental records compiled after the battle indicate that MacLeod was killed in action on Nov. 28, 1950.
Between 2002 and 2005, three joint U.S.-Democratic People’s Republic of Korea teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated an area with two mass graves on the eastern shore of the Chosin Reservoir. They were believed to be burial sites of U.S. soldiers from the 31st RCT. The teams found human remains and other material evidence. Analysis of the remains subsequently led to the identifications of eight individuals, including MacLeod.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of MacLeod’s remains.
December 11
Capt. Richard H. Simpson, of Fairhaven, Mich.,
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Capt. Richard H. Simpson, of Fairhaven, Mich., U.S. Air Force. Funeral dates have not been set by the families.
On April 12, 1951, Hatfield and Simpson were two of eleven crewmembers on a B-29 Superfortress that left Kadena Air Base, Japan, to bomb targets in the area of Sinuiju, North Korea. Enemy MiG-15 fighters attacked the B-29, but before it crashed, three crewmembers were able to bail out. They were captured and two of them were later released in 1954 to U.S. military control during Operation Big Switch. The third crewmember died in captivity. He and the eight remaining crewmembers were not recovered.
In 1993, the North Korean government turned over to the United Nations Command 31 boxes containing the remains of U.S. servicemen listed as unaccounted-for from the Korean War. Four sets of remains from this group were subsequently identified as crewmembers from the B-29.
In 2000, a joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) excavated an infantry fighting position in Kujang County where they recovered remains which included those of Hatfield and Simpson.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains recovered in 2000.
April 22.
2007
Maj. Robert G. Lapham, U.S. Air Force, of Marshall, Mich
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Maj. Robert G. Lapham, U.S. Air Force, of Marshall, Mich. He will be buried Friday in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
On Feb. 8, 1968, Lapham was flying the lead A-1G Skyraider in a flight of two in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. The aircraft were alerted to join an airborne forward air controller to destroy enemy tanks that had overrun the Lang Vei Special Forces Camp. After completing one pass on the tanks, Lapham was nearing his target on the second pass when he crashed. The crew of the other aircraft involved in the mission reported seeing no parachute.
Between 1993 and 1998, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Quang Tri Province two times to investigate the incident and interview witnesses. One team also surveyed the crash site and found aircraft wreckage.
In 2003, another joint team investigated the incident and resurveyed the crash site. The team found more wreckage and pilot-related evidence, including Lapham’s identification tag.
Between 2004 and 2006, JPAC teams traveled to Quang Tri Province four times to excavate the crash site. The teams recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage and pilot-related items.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.
October 10,
2007
Staff Sgt. Walter O. Schlosser, of Lake City, Mich.
The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of nine U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Staff Sgt. Walter O. Schlosser, of Lake City, Mich.; The burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. on a date to be determined.
Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men in their hometowns to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
On July 7, 1944, the men were aboard a B-24J Liberator that departed North Pickenham, England, on a mission to bomb a German aircraft factory near Bernburg, Germany. The plane was last seen by U.S. aircrew members in that vicinity. Captured records revealed that it had crashed near Westeregeln, about 20 miles northwest of the target in what would become the Soviet sector of a post-war-divided Germany.
In 2001, a group of German citizens interested in recovering wartime relics and remains learned of a potential crash site south of Westeregeln. Later that year and in 2002, the group found the site and uncovered human remains from what appeared to be two burial locations. The remains and other personal effects, including identification tags, were turned over to U.S. officials.
In 2003, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) team excavated the crash site and recovered additional remains, identification tags and non-biological material evidence.
Among dental records, other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.
May 11,
2007
1st Lt. Archibald Kelly, U.S. Army Air Forces, of Detroit, Mich
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly, U.S. Army Air Forces, of Detroit, Mich. He will be buried on May 12 in Great Lakes National Cemetery, Holly, Mich.
Representatives from the Army met with Kelly’s next-of-kin in his hometown to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
On July 22, 1944, Kelly was the navigator on a B-24J Liberator on a bombing raid of the oil fields at Ploesti, Romania. Returning to Lecce air base in Italy, the plane was struck by enemy antiaircraft fire and crashed in what is now Croatia, approximately 430 miles southwest of Ploesti. Of the ten crewmen on board, eight survived and bailed out of the aircraft before it crashed. The rear gunner died and his body was later recovered. One of the surviving crewmen saw Kelly bail out before the crash, but said he struck a rocky cliff face when the wind caught his parachute. His body was not found at that time.
After researching information contained in U.S. wartime records, specialists from DPMO’s Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD) in 2005 interviewed residents from Dubrovnik and Mihanici village who had information related to WWII aircraft losses in the area. One resident recalled a crash in which one of the crewmen landed on a pile of rocks on Mt. Snijeznica after his parachute failed to open. He said locals buried the individual. Based on witness descriptions of the burial location, the team searched the mountaintop, but was unable to locate the burial site.
Additional JCSD archival research in Croatia confirmed the earlier information found in U.S. records. In June 2006, the Dubrovnik resident reported to JCSD that he had continued the search and found the grave site of the American serviceman. He sent pictures of both the site and the remains to DPMO. In September 2006, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) team excavated the burial site, confirming with local villagers that it was the same site photographed by the Dubrovnik resident. The team recovered human remains at the site.
Among other traditional forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of Kelly’s remains.
April 9,
2007
They
are: 2nd Lt. Raymond A. Cooley, of Leary, Texas; 2nd Lt. Dudley R. Ives, of
Ingleside, Texas; 2nd Lt. George E. Archer, of Cushing, Okla.;
2nd Lt. Donald F. Grady, of Harrisburg, Pa.; Tech. Sgt. Richard R. Sargent,
of N. Girard, Pa.; Tech. Sgt. Steve Zayac, of Cleveland, Ohio;
Staff Sgt., Joseph M King, of Detroit, Michigan;
Staff Sgt. Thomas G. Knight, of Brookfield, Ill.; Staff Sgt. Norman L. Nell, of
Tarkio, Mo.;
and Staff Sgt. Blair W. Smith, of Nu Mine, PA; all U. S. Army Air Corp.
Staff Sgt. Joseph M. King, of Detroit, Mich.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of ten U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
They are 2nd Lt. Raymond A. Cooley, of Leary, Texas; 2nd Lt. Dudley R. Ives, of Ingleside, Texas; 2nd Lt. George E. Archer, of Cushing, Okla.; 2nd Lt. Donald F. Grady, of Harrisburg, Pa.; Tech. Sgt. Richard R. Sargent, of North Girard, Pa.; Tech. Sgt. Steve Zayac, of Cleveland, Ohio; Staff Sgt. Joseph M. King, of Detroit, Mich.; Staff Sgt. Thomas G. Knight, of Brookfield, Ill.; Staff Sgt. Norman L. Nell, of Tarkio, Mo.; and Staff Sgt. Blair W. Smith, of Nu Mine, Pa.; all U.S. Army Air Forces. The dates and locations of the funerals are being set by their families.
Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men in their hometowns to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
On April 16, 1944, a B-24 Liberator crewed by these airmen was returning to the aerodrome at Nadzab, New Guinea, after bombing enemy targets near Hollandia. The aircraft was altering course due to bad weather and was proceeding to the aerodrome at Saidor, but it never returned to friendly lines.
In late 2001, the U.S. Embassy in Papua New Guinea notified the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) that wreckage of a World War II bomber had been found in Morobe Province. Early the next year, a JPAC team surveyed the site and found aircraft wreckage and remains. They also collected more remains and Grady’s identification tag from local villagers who had found the items at the crash site.
Later in 2002, a JPAC team began excavating the crash site and recovered remains and crew-related items, included identification tags for Knight and Smith. The team was unable to complete the recovery, and another JPAC team re-visited the site two weeks later to complete the excavation. The team found additional remains and identification tags for Sargent and King.
Among dental records, other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.
NO
MICHIGAN POW/MIA's REPORTED IN 2006
December 15,
2005
Seaman Second Class Warren P. Hickok of Kalamazoo, Mich.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. Navy seaman, missing in action from the attack on Pearl Harbor, have been identified and will soon be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Seaman Second Class Warren P. Hickok of Kalamazoo, Mich. The family has not set a date for his burial.
Hickok was assigned to the Light Mine Layer USS Sicard when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Many crewmembers from the Sicard, including Hickok, were dispatched to assist the crew of the USS Cummings, a Navy destroyer docked nearby. The Cummings succeeded in getting underway and clearing Pearl Harbor, but no casualties were reported aboard that ship. During an investigation to determine who was still unaccounted-for after the attack, it was surmised that Hickok may have been a casualty aboard the battleship USS Pennsylvania. Some crewmen from the Sicard had been dispatched to the Pennsylvania during the attack, but there was no record to indicate that Hickok was lost aboard that ship.
In the days following the attack, burial details interred many of the unknown dead in Nuuanu Cemetery on Oahu. Among those buried were an unknown sailor identified only as X-2. Following the war, the Army Graves Registration Service oversaw the disinterment of unknown remains, including the X-2 remains. They could not be identified, and were reburied in Section E, Grave 731, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, on June 9, 1949.
In 2004, an avocational historian contacted the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in Hawaii and suggested that the remains in Grave 731 may be those of Hickok. Based on available records, JPAC exhumed the grave in June 2005. Forensic anthropologists at JPAC were able to match those remains, including dental remains, with detailed information found in Hickok’s World War II medical and dental records.
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