“HONOR THE DEAD BY HELPING THE LIVING”
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.
March 03, 2017
KHAMMOUANE, Laos --
With
1,614 service members missing in action from the Vietnam War, the Defense
POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) deploys hundreds of service members,
DoD civilians, and contractors all over the world in hopes of returning our
nation’s fallen heroes.
Recently a team of 59 personnel completed DPAA’s second Laos mission of fiscal
year 2017, covering the Central East region of Laos. From rice patties to
mountainsides,
the teams excavated thousands of square meters of land recovering important
evidence relating to missing servicemen lost during the war.
“I’m
very honored to have been part of this initiative to bring our missing home,”
said U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Walgenbach,
recovery non-commissioned officer. “This mission has been the most unique part
of my 13 year career in the military and I know others feel the same way.”
Every
team member plays an important role in mission success. Whether that is the
recovery non-commissioned officer setting up the sites,
or the recovery leader collecting scientific data, working together ensures
nothing is overlooked and the safety of the team remains number one priority.
Due
to the efforts of the teams, Laos representatives handed over possible remains
to the U.S. to be repatriated and welcomed back on American soil after 48 years.
Upon arrival the possible remains will be transported to DPAA’s laboratory for
examination and possible identification.
“During this mission I have worked along side some of the greatest men and women
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting,
and being chosen for the repatriation ceremony was a perfect way to end such a
great mission,” said U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Brod,
recovery non-commissioned officer. “It is truly an honor to be bringing closure
to the families of our fallen service members.”
The
hard work and continued dedication of these teams makes it possible for DPAA to
fulfill our nations promise and
provide fullest possible accounting for our missing service members to their
families and the nation.
U.S. Navy
Petty Officer 1st Class Ameil Fredeluces, edic, and U.S. Marine Corps. Staff
Sgt. Eddie Ludwig, explosive ordinance disposal technician,
remove dirt from units during excavation operations as part of the Defense
POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos,
January 29, 2017. Recovery Team Three executed excavation operations in
search of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while on a visual
reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over 48 years ago. DPAA’s mission
is to provide the fullest possible accounting
for our missing personnel to their families and the nation.
Members of
the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency dig units during excavation operations as
part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s
mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos, January 26, 2017. Recovery Team Three
executed excavation operations in search of two missing
U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while on a visual reconnaissance mission
during the Vietnam War over 48 years ago. DPAA’s mission is to provide the
fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the
nation.
Jack Kenkeo,
life support investigator, shovels dirt from the screening stations during
excavation operations as part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s
mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos, January 23, 2017. Recovery Team Three
executed excavation operations in search of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots
who crashed while on a visual reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over
48 years ago.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing
personnel to their families and the nation.
U.S. Army
Staff Sgt. Francis Sangiamvongse, linguist, screens soil with local villagers
during excavation operations as part of the Defense POW/MIA
Accounting Agency’s mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos, January 29, 2017.
Recovery Team Three executed excavation operations in search
of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while on a visual
reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over 48 years ago.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing
personnel to their families and the nation.
Lynn Rakos,
scientific recovery expert, waters hard soil to help with excavation operations
as part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s mission
in the Khammovan Province, Laos, January 23, 2017. Recovery Team three executed
excavation operations in search of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots
who crashed while on a visual reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over
48 years ago.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing
personnel to their families and the nation.
In March of
2017, Making the effort to thank the troops for what they do out in the field
means everything.
With a DPAA recovery team in Quang Nam Province, two hours west of Da Nang,
Vietnam.
The UW-Madison
story involved
a group of six students and staff members who were part of a team that unearthed
a World War II U.S. fighter aircraft—
and possibly remains of its pilot—in the ground under a farm field in France
this summer.
The team used ground-penetrating radar and a photo taken by a
British reconnaissance plane two days after the May, 1944
crash of the P-47 Thunderbolt flown by 1st Lt. Frank Fazekas.
Search underway for Lakewood, Ohio airman of World War II
Search underway for Lakewood, Ohio airman of World War II.
Divers of the U.S. Defense
POW/MIA
Accounting Agency and Civil Defense of Grado, Italy,
prepare for an exploratory dive on the sunken B-24 bomber.
This B-24 Liberator is the same type of airplane that
Lakewood, Ohio airman Thomas McGraw was flying in when it was shot down and
crashed off the coast of Italy during World War II.
A Missing Air Crew Report details the last flight of the B-24 and nose gunner
Thomas McGraw of Lakewood, Ohio.
B-24 located in Adriatic; Crewmanis bones sought Ught Lakewood Manis remains
crewman Omber crew,am2-2k-28 bold Header from A1.
A skull fragment was recovered at the site of a wrecked B-24 bomber
off the coast of Italy that may contain the remains of
Thomas McGraw,
of Lakewood, Ohio.
An underwater view of the crash site of a B-24 off Grado, Italy.
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.
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.)
*Ensign William M. Finnegan, 44, of Bessmer, Mich.
*Seaman 1st Class Robert W. Headington, 19, of Bay City, Michigan
*Machinist's Mate 1st Class Fred M. Jones, 31, of North Lake, Michigan
*Fireman 3rd Class Gerald G. Lehman, 18, of Hancock, Michigan
*Fireman 2nd Class Lowell E. Valley, 19, of Ontonagon, 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.
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
WWII
from MICHIGAN - 2462
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Korea
from MICHIGAN - 337
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Cold War
from MICHIGAN - 4
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Viet Nam
from MICHIGAN - 48
RECENTLY
FOUND
HEROES in 2019
U.S.
Coast Guard
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Thomas J.E. Crotty, 30, Buffalo, New York killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In 1942, Crotty served aboard the USS Quail in the Philippines as
part of the 16th Naval District-in-Shore Patrol Headquarters, in Cavite Navy
Yard on the Philippine Islands.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were taken
prisoner and sent to prisoner of war camps. Crotty was among those reported
captured after the surrender of Corregidor and held at the Cabanatuan POW camp.
Crotty died July 19, 1942, and was buried along
with fellow prisoners in the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery, in grave number 312.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS)
personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and examined the
remains in an attempt to identify them. Due to the circumstances of the deaths
and burials, the extensive commingling, and the limited identification
technologies of the time, all of the remains could not be identified. The
unidentified remains were interred as “unknowns” in the present-day Manila
American Cemetery and Memorial.
In January 2018, the “unknown” remains associated with Common
Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis,
including one set, designated X-2858 Manila #2.
To identify Crotty’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Jack B. Van Zandt, 21,
Rossville, Illinois
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Van Zandt was a member of Company A, 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.
Van Zandt was killed on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22, 1943. His remains were reportedly buried in East Division Cemetery on Betio Island.
October 3
Marine Corps Pfc. Ray P. Fairchild,
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Fairchild was a member of Company D, 2nd Battalion,
7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He was killed in action Nov. 27, 1950,
near the town of Yudam-ni, west of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the war his remains could not be recovered.
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Norman A. Buan, 27,
Saskatchewan, Canada
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Buan was a member of Company C, 1st 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.
Buan was killed on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. His remains were reportedly buried in in Beach Red 2 Cemetery on Betio Island.
Marine Corps Pfc. Marley Arthurholtz, 20,
Indianapolis, Indiana
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Arthurholtz 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 Arthurholtz.
Marine Corps Pfc. Louis Wiesehan, Jr.,
Richmond, Ind.
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Wiesehan was a member of Company F, 2nd
Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed against stiff
Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the
Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island.
Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated.
Wiesehan was killed on the second day of the battle, Nov. 21, 1943. His remains were reportedly buried in Division Cemetery on Betio Island.
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. John T. Burke,
18, of Newton, North Carolina, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In November 1943, Burke was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion,
8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed against stiff Japanese
resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert
Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense
fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more
than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated.
Burke reportedly died on the second day of the
battle, Nov. 21, 1943.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military
success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because
the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. 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
Burke’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 as unknowns in
the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in
Honolulu, including one set, designated as Tarawa Unknown X-98.
On Jan. 23, 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-98 from the
NMCP for identification.
To identify Burke’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis. Additionally,
scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) analysis.
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Robert J. Hatch, 21,
Salt Lake, Utah
killed
during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Hatch was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion,
6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed
against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa
Atoll
of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island.
Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated.
Hatch was killed on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22, 1943. His remains were reportedly buried in either an isolated burial or in Cemetery 33 on Betio Island.
October 1
Army Cpl. Jerry M. Garrison, 21, of
Lamar, Arkansas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Garrison was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st
Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported
missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after the enemy attacked his unit near the
Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
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 Garrison’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), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
October 1
Army
Pfc. John A. Shelemba, 19,
Hamtramck, Michigan
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In the summer of 1950, Shelemba was a member of Company L, 3rd
Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported
missing in action July 20, 1950, while defending Taejon, South Korea.
He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy near Taejon, South Korea on July 20, 1950.
He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. After the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
October 1
Army Pfc. David C. Wilkes, 20, of
Saline, Missouri, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Wilkes was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion
32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division.
Approximately 2,500 U.S. and 700 South Korean soldiers assembled into the 31st
Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir,
North Korea, when it was attacked by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. As
the Chinese attacks continued, American forces withdrew south. The U.S. Army
evacuated approximately 1,500 service members; the remaining soldiers had been
either captured, killed or missing in enemy territory.
Wilkes was initially reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950,
when he could not be accounted for after the withdrawal, but his status was
later amended to killed in action.
On Sept. 14, 1951, a set of remains, designated Unknown X-15682
was reportedly recovered from an isolated grave in the vicinity of the Pungnyrui
Inlet on the Chosin Reservoir. The remains were processed for identification at
the Central Identification Unit at Kokura, Japan. When identification attempts
failed, they were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific,
known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and were interred as Unknown.
On July 10, 2014, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-15682 and sent the
remains to the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Wilkes’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
October 1
Army Sgt. 1st Class Riley Burchfield,
22, Cuyahoga, Ohio
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Burchfield was a member of Company D, 1st
Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.
He was captured by enemy forces near Kunu-ri, North Korea on Nov. 26, 1950. He reportedly died while in custody of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces, at Prisoner of War Camp 5, in February 1951.
Marine
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. John R. Bayens,
Louisville, Ky
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Bayens 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.
Bayens was killed on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22,
1943.
His remains were reportedly buried in Cemetery 33 on Betio Island.
Soldier
October 1
Army Sgt. Gerald B. Raeymacker, 21, of
Dunkirk, New York, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Raeymacker was a member of Battery B, 57th Field
Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team. He was
reported missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chosin
Reservoir, North Korea, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces. 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 Raeymacker’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), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA (auSTR)
analysis.
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.
To identify Kellett’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Navy Reserve Seaman 2nd Class Moyses A.
Martinez, 19, of Dulce, New Mexico, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On July 24, 1944, Martinez was aboard the battleship USS
Colorado, which was moored approximately 3,200 yards from the shore of Tinian
Island, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Early in the morning, the
USS Colorado, along with the light cruiser Cleveland and destroyers Remey and
Norman Scott, commenced firing toward the island. Within two hours, a concealed
Japanese shore battery opened fire on the USS Colorado and the USS Norman Scott.
The first hit on the USS Colorado resulted in a heavy explosion, and the ship
sustained extensive fragmentation damage. From the attack, four crewmen were
declared missing in action, and 39 personnel were killed, including Martinez.
Martinez and the other casualties were subsequently interred in the 4th Marine
Division Cemetery on Saipan.
In February 1948, under the direction of the American Graves
Registration Service’s 9105th Technical Service Unit, three battlefield
cemeteries, including the 4th Marine Division Cemetery, were disinterred.
While the majority of identifications that had been tentatively
made following the attack were upheld, nine sets were reclassified as “unknown.”
Of those, five were eventually identified and four were declared as unknown and
were interred at the Manila American Memorial and Cemetery in the Philippines.
On Oct. 18, 2017, personnel from DPAA, in partnership with the
American Battle Monuments Commission, exhumed Unknown X-74 from the Manila
American Memorial and Cemetery and accessioned the remains to the DPAA
laboratory for analysis.
To identify Martinez’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Marine Corps Reserve 1st Lt. Justin G. Mills, 26,
Galveston, Texas
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following Primary Next of
Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Mills was a member of Company C, 1st 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.
Mills was killed on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. His remains were reportedly buried in the Central Division Cemetery, and later to the Lone Palm Cemetery on Betio Island.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class D.T. Kyser,
Muskogee, Ok.
was
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Kyser 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 Kyser.
Army Sgt. David C. Sewell,
Cass County, Minnesota
killed
during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following Primary Next of
Kin briefing.)
He had enlisted in the Army. Served during the Korean War. He had
the rank of Sergeant. Occupation or specialty was Cook.
In late 1950, Hummel was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion,
31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action
Nov. 28, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea,
when his unit was attacked by enemy forces. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Army Cpl. Jerome V. Hummel, St. Louis, Mo.
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Hummel was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 31st
Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action Nov.
30, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea,
when his unit was attacked by enemy forces. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Navy Radioman 2nd Class Floyd A. Wells,
24, of Cavalier, North Dakota, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Wells was assigned to the battleship USS
Arizona, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was
attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Arizona sustained multiple torpedo hits,
which caused a cataclysmic explosion, and ignited a fire that burned for two
days. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 1,177 crewmen. The
majority of these remains were never recovered from the wreckage and are
entombed in the USS Arizona Memorial.
For several years following the attack, Navy personnel recovered
the remains of the deceased from other ships that were hit by the attack,
including the USS Oklahoma, on which 429 crewmen perished. Unable to be
identified, most of these remains were interred as Unknowns at the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
After Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert O. Work approved the disinterment,
between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknown
remains from the Punchbowl for analysis.
A casket that was originally designated as X-97 and buried at
Nu’uanu Naval Cemetery was among those disinterred for DPAA’s USS Oklahoma
Project. When identification analysis of the remains in that casket did not
match any of the missing personnel associated with the USS Oklahoma, the DPAA
staff widened the scope of the analysis to include all personnel missing from
the Pearl Harbor attack.
Using a variety of information, the DPAA was able to determine
that in the chaotic days just after the attack the remains had been recovered,
but erroneously labelled as being collected from the USS Oklahoma. Subsequent
attempts to identify the remains immediately after the war were unsuccessful and
the remains were buried at the Punchbowl with the other Unknowns from the USS
Oklahoma.
To identify Wells’ 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) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis to aid in the
identification.
Army Cpl. Kenneth E. Ford,
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Ford was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 32nd
Infantry Regiment. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, in the
vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea,
when his unit was attacked by enemy forces.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Army Cpl. Harold Pearce, 25, of Dillon,
South Carolina, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
July 1950, Pearce was a member of 1st Platoon, 24th Military
Police Company, 24th Infantry Division. He was killed July 10, 1950, when his
unit was withdrawing from the city of Taejon, South Korea. Because of the unit’s
hasty withdrawal, his remains were not recovered.
In October 1950, three sets of unidentified remains from the
vicinity of where Pearce was killed were turned over to the U.S. Military
Cemetery-Taejon for burial. The American Graves Registration Service Group (AGRSG)
identified two sets of remains, however the third set could not be identified
and they were buried at U.S. Military Cemetery-Taejon as Unknown X-210 Taejon.
In 1956, the U.S. Army declared Unknown X-210 Taejon again unidentifiable.
In an effort to support identification attempts, remains
recovered throughout South Korea were sent to the Central Identification Command
in Kokura, Japan, for identification. X-210 could not be associated with any
missing service members and the remains were subsequently transferred to the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu
and buried as a Korean Unknown.
On August 2018, DPAA disinterred “X-210 Taejon” from the
Punchbowl and sent the remains to the laboratory for identification.
To identify Pearce’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, along with
circumstantial evidence.
Army Sgt. Willie V. Galvan, 24, of Bexar
County, Texas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Galvan was a member of Medical Company, 7th
Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team. He was reported missing in
action on Dec. 1, 1950, after the enemy attacked his unit 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 Galvan’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), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Army 1st Lt. Herschel H. Mattes, 22, of
Pittsburgh, was accounted for.
In early 1944, Mattes was a pilot, assigned to the 525th
Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 86th Fighter-Bomber Group. On March 6, 1944, while on
an armed reconnaissance mission, his A-36A, Apache aircraft crashed
approximately 2.5 miles from Lake Bracciano, Italy. Prior to the crash, his
aircraft was struck by small arms or machine gun fire.
His remains could not be recovered immediately following the
crash.
In 1947, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS)
recovered remains from a grave found on the grounds of an estate about 2.5 miles
from Lake Bracciano.
The remains, designated X-977 Nettuno, could not be identified and were interred
at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery.
Based upon the original recovery location of X-977, a DPAA
historian determined that there was a likely association between the remains and
Mattes.
On Aug. 4, 2015, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments
Commission disinterred X-977 and accessioned the remains to the DPAA laboratory
for identification.
To identify Mattes’ 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.
Army Cpl. Henry L. Phillips, 18,
Pulaski, Tennessee
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Phillips was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion,
24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action Nov. 28, 1950, when he could not be accounted for by his unit following engagement with enemy forces near Anju, North Korea.
His remains could not be recovered.
Army Lloyd B. Odom, killed
during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Odom was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd
Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team.
He was reported missing in action Dec. 2, 1950, when he could not be accounted for by his unit following engagement with enemy forces.
His remains could not be recovered.
Army Cpl. Wilfred K. Hussey, Jr., 19,
Hilo - Big Island, Hawaii
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Hussey was a member of Company K, 31st Infantry
Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action Dec. 12, 1950, when he could not be accounted for by his unit following engagement with enemy forces.
His remains could not be recovered.
Army Cpl. Asa (Bud) E. Vance, 18,
Decatur, Illinois
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Vance was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion,
32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action Dec. 2, 1950, when he could not be accounted for by his unit following engagement with enemy forces.
His remains could not be recovered.
Army Pfc. William J. Winchester, 20,
Lawrence County, Alabama
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Winchester was a member of Company D, 1st
Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.
He was captured by the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces in November 1950 during combat operations in the vicinity of Unsan, North Korea.
He was reported to have died in February 1950, while in enemy custody.
Army Cpl. William J. McCollum, from
South Carolina killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, McCollum was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion,
32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team.
His unit was engaged in intense fighting with the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea.
He was reported missing in action Dec. 2, 1950, when he could not be accounted for by his unit. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Soldier Killed
Army Cpl. Joe T. Avant,
20, of
Greenwood,
Mississippi
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Avant was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 31st
Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team.
His unit was engaged in intense fighting with the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces, near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, when he could not be accounted for by his unit.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Army Air Forces Sgt. R.L. Tyler,
of Texas
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In 1942, Tyler was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 19th
Bombardment Group, serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Following the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and the fall
of Bataan, Tyler was taken as a prisoner of war to the
Cabanatuan prisoner of war camp. He was reported to have died between July
18-19, 1942,
and was subsequently buried in Common Grave 312, along with other prisoners who
died that day.
Soldier Killed
Army Cpl. Autrey J. Betar, of Jefferson
County, Texas killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Betar was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion,
32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team.
His unit was engaged in intense fighting with the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. He was reported missing in action Dec. 2, 1950, when he could not be accounted for by his unit.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Navy Quartermaster 2nd Class Daryle E. Artley,
21, Haywood,
Nebraska
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Artley 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 Artley.
Navy Fireman 1st Class Lawrence E.
Woods, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Woods 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 Woods.
Navy Fireman 1st Class James C. Webb,
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Webb 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 Webb.
Navy Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Arnold M. Nielsen,
Alameda County, California
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Nielsen 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 Nielsen.
Navy Chief Water Tender F. Day,
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Day 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 Day.
Marine
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Grady J. Crawford, 22, Dallas,
(His full name is Quincy Grady Crawford. He went by "Jack."
Woodrow Wilson High School, Dallas, Texas.)
In late November 1950, Crawford was a member of Battery M, 4th
Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, serving in North Korea. He
was last seen engaged in combat operations at Yudam-ni, West Chosin Reservoir,
North Korea, on Dec. 1, 1950. No lists provided by the Chinese People’s
Volunteer Forces or Korean People’s Army showed Crawford as a prisoner of war
and no returning American prisoners reported to have any information on his
status. Absent evidence of continued survival, the Department of the Navy
declared him deceased as of Oct. 30, 1953.
In September 1954, as part of Operation Glory, where the United
Nations Command, Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces and Korean People’s Army
exchanged war dead at Munsan-ni, South Korea, the United Nations received
remains reported to have been recovered from the west side of the Chosin
Reservoir. The remains were sent to the Central Identification Unit for
attempted identification. One set, designated X-14896, was declared
unidentifiable. They were then transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of
the Pacific (NMCP,) known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and were interred as
Unknown.
In May 2012, following thorough historical and scientific
analysis, X-14896 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and sent to the laboratory
for analysis.
To identify Crawford’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and skull photograph superimposition analysis, as well as
circumstantial and material evidence.
Soldier
Army Pfc. Jacob W. Givens, 30, of Mt.
Sterling, Kentucky, was accounted for.
In October 1944, Givens was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion,
60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division which was engaged against enemy
forces in the Raffelsbrand sector of the Hürtgen Forest, near Germeter, Germany.
He was reported missing in action as of Oct. 20, 1944, when his
company reorganized after a severe counterattack and he could not be accounted
for.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command
extensively searched the Hürtgen Forest for him. No remains found in the area
were identified as Givens, and the Army declared him non-recoverable.
While studying unresolved American losses in and unidentified
remains recovered from the Hürtgen Forest, DPAA personnel analyzed historical
documentation regarding X-5483 Neuville, a set of unidentified remains recovered
on May 15, 1947 from District #20C of the Hürtgen Forest by the AGRC. The
remains had originally been found by a German woodcutter who later led an AGRC
team to the site. The AGRC team found the remains lying on the ground,
surrounded by U.S. Army infantry equipment. The remains, designated X-5483,
could not be identified, and were interred at the United States Military
Cemetery Neuville (present day Ardennes American Cemetery).
Based upon the original recovery location of X-5483, a DPAA
historian determined that there was a likely association between the remains and
Givens. In June 2018, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments
Commission disinterred X-5483 and accessioned the remains to the DPAA laboratory
for identification.
To identify Givens’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Steve Nagy, 23,
Lorain County, Ohio
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In the summer of 1944, Nagy was a member of the 407th Bombardment
Squadron (Heavy,) 92d Bombardment Group (Heavy,) 40th Combat Bombardment Wing,
1st Air Division, 8th Air Force.
On Aug. 24, 1944, a B-17G Flying Fortress aircraft, carrying nine crewmembers, was struck by German anti-aircraft fire while on a bombing raid over Merseburg, Germany.
Four crewmembers were survived and captured by Germany forces, while five were killed, including Nagy. His remains were reported to have been buried in the Leipzig-Lindenthal Cemetery.
Marine Corps Pfc. Michael Kocopy, 20,
Upper Chichester, Pennsylvania killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Kocopy was a member of Company E, 2nd
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.
Kocopy died on the first and second day of battle, Nov. 20, 1943. He was reported to have been buried in the Central Division Cemetery, which was eventually renamed to Cemetery #26.
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. John F. McTigue,
Queens, N.Y. killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In the summer of 1944, McTigue was a member of the 407th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy,) 92d Bombardment Group (Heavy,) 40th Combat
Bombardment Wing, 1st Air Division, 8th Air Force.
On Aug. 24, 1944, a B-17G Flying Fortress aircraft, carrying nine crewmembers, was struck by German anti-aircraft fire while on a bombing raid over Merseburg, Germany.
Four crewmembers were survived and captured by Germany forces, while five were killed, including McTigue. His remains were reported to have been buried in the Leipzig-Lindenthal Cemetery.
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Willard R. Best, 24,
Macon County, Illinois
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In the summer of 1944, Best was a member of the 407th Bombardment
Squadron (Heavy,) 92d Bombardment Group (Heavy,) 40th Combat Bombardment Wing,
1st Air Division, 8th Air Force.
On Aug. 24, 1944, a B-17G Flying Fortress aircraft, carrying nine crewmembers, was struck by German anti-aircraft fire while on a bombing raid over Merseburg, Germany.
Four crewmembers were survived and captured by Germany forces, while five were killed, including Best. His remains were reported to have been buried in the Leipzig-Lindenthal Cemetery.
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.
September 5
Army Pfc. Harold K. Knight, 20,
Union City, Pennsylvania
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Knight was an infantryman assigned to Headquarters
and Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team.
His unit was engaged in intense fighting with the Chinese People's Volunteer
Forces at Sinhung-ri, near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, from Nov. 27-
Dec. 1, 1950.
The RCT endured repeated attacks before withdrawing Dec. 1, 1950. Witness accounts noted that Knight was killed in action Nov. 25, 1950. His remains could not be recovered.
Navy Mess Attendant 1st Class Johnnie
C. Laurie, 25, of Bessemer, Alabama, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Laurie 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 Laurie.
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 Laurie.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Laurie’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
September 5
Army Sgt. Donald L. Murphy,
20, San Diego, California
killed during the Korean War, was accounted fo.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Murphy was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion,
32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team.
The 31st RCT was east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, enduring repeated attacks from the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces, before withdrawing from their positions on Dec. 1, 1950.
Enemy forces destroyed the American convoy a they withdrew. Following reconsolidation of American forces at Hagaru-ri.
Donald Murphy was captured during the Korean War and interned as a Prisoner of War. He was not among those returned at the wars end, and is listed as Missing in Action.
September 4
Army Sgt. Vernon R. Judd, 22, of
Navarre, Ohio, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Judd was a member of Company D, 89th Medium Tank
Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 28,
1950, when he was captured by enemy forces in the vicinity of Ipsok, North
Korea.
A returned American POW reported that Judd
died at Hofong Prisoner of War camp, also known as Pukchin-Tarigol, on Feb. 14,
1951. His remains were unable to be recovered.
On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Trump
and North Korean Chairman Kim 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 Judd’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), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA (Y-STR)
analysis.
September 4
Army 1st Lt. Robert C. Styslinger,
Allegheny, Pennsylvania
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Styslinger served with Battery B, 57th Field
Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported to have been killed
in action Nov. 29, 1950 while fighting enemy forces near Hagaru-ri, Chosin
Reservoir, North Korea.
His remains could not be recovered.
September 4
Army Cpl. Donald E. Angle, 21, of Clear
Spring, Maryland, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1950, Angle was a member of Company C, 1st
Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, fighting against members
of the Korean People’s Army. On July 25, 1950, he was reported missing in action
in the vicinity of Yongdong, South Korea. Absent evidence of continued survival,
the Department of the Army declared him deceased as of Dec. 31, 1953.
In February 1951, a Search and Recovery Team of the 565th
Quartermaster Graves Registration Company recovered a partial set of remains,
designated as Unknown X-485 Tanggok, from a hill less than a mile from Yongdong,
South Korea.
In June 1955, the remains were declared unidentifiable and
were subsequently transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP,)
known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and were interred as an Unknown.
On August 20, 2018, following thorough historical and scientific
analysis, X-485 Tanggok was disinterred from the Punchbowl and sent to the
laboratory for analysis.
To identify Angle’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as
circumstantial and material evidence.
September 3
Army Cpl. Gerald N. Wilson, 20,
Roach, Missouri
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In the summer of 1950, Wilson served with Company F, 2nd
Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was last seen July 25,
1950, while participating in the defense of Yongdong, South Korea.
His remains could not be recovered.
Army Tech. 5th Grade John E. Bainbridge,
23, of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 2, 1942, Bainbridge was a member of Company C, 128th
Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, when his unit engaged in an assault
against enemy positions on the Urbana Front, outside of Buna Village, in the
Australian Territory of Papua (present-day Papua New Guinea.) Bainbridge was
killed in action and postwar efforts failed to locate or identify his remains.
On Feb. 2, 1943, the remains of an unidentified American Soldier
were interred at the U.S. Armed Forces Cemetery in Buna Village. In July 1944,
the remains were reinterred at a nearby U.S. Armed Forces Cemetery, then later
to U.S. Armed Forces Cemetery Finschhafen #2 where the remains were designated
“Unknown X-135.”
In 1947, the American Graves Registration service exhumed
approximately 11,000 graves, including X-135, and sent the remains to the
Central Identification Point at the Manila Mausoleum in the Philippines. X-135
could not be identified and was interred at Fort McKinley (now the Manila
American Cemetery and Memorial.)
In Feb. 22, 2017, Unknown X-135 was disinterred, and the remains
were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Bainbridge’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Army Pvt. James I. Trick, 25, of
Hughesville, Pennsylvania, was accounted for.
In late 1944, Trick was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion,
109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, which was engaged against enemy
forces in the Hürtgen Forest, near Germeter, Germany.
He reportedly killed by enemy shrapnel on Nov. 4, 1944, while bring supplies for
his unit.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command
extensively searched the Hürtgen Forest for him. No remains found in the area
were identified as Trick’s, and the Army declared him non-recoverable.
On July 22, 1947, a set of remains, designated X-6207 Neuville,
was recovered from the Hürtgen Forest, where Trick’s company was engaged in
battle. The remains were transferred to the Central Identification Point at
Neuville, Belgium.
Despite exhaustive efforts, the remains could not be identified and were
subsequently interred at the United States Military Cemetery Neuville-en-Condroz
(present-day Ardennes American Cemetery) in September 1949.
Based upon the original recovery location of X-6207, a DPAA
historian determined that there was a likely association between the remains and
Trick. In June 2018, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments
Commission disinterred X-6207 and accessioned the remains to the DPAA laboratory
for identification.
To identify Trick’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally,
scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) analysis.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Stewart Jordan,
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In 1944, Jordan was assigned to the USS Nelson, which was
anchored off the coast of Normandy, France. He was killed June 12, 1944, when
the ship was hit by enemy fire.
Following the war, his remains could not be identified.
Army Cpl. Gudmund C. Johnson, Jr., 22,
Red Wing,
Minn.
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Nov. 28, 1950, Johnson was a member of Company K, 3rd
Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, when he was captured
by enemy forces near Unsan, North Korea.,
He reportedly died while a prisoner of war at Camp #5, where he was held by the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces. Following his death, his remains could not be recovered.
Army Cpl. Charles H. Grubb,
21, Bluefield, West Virginia
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Grubb was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion,
31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action
on Dec. 1, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea,
when his unit was attacked by enemy forces. Following the battle, his remains
could not be recovered.
Army Pfc. Vincent J. Ferrara, 19, of Chicago,
Illinois
killed
during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Ferrara was a member of Company C, 1st
Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, when his company
attacked enemy pillboxes and defensive positions in the Raffelsbrand Sector of
the Hürtgen Forest, near Germeter, Germany. The company was stopped by stiff
German resistance and Ferrara was badly wounded on Nov. 14, 1944. According to a
postwar account of another Soldier, Ferrara had been taken to a field hospital,
however he had no further information on Ferrara’s fate. Army hospitals in
Europe had no record of Ferrara being admitted as a patient and all efforts to
find him on the battlefield proved unsuccessful. Ferrara was subsequently listed
as missing in action.
Between 1947 and 1950, American Graves Registration Command (AGRC)
investigative teams traveled to Germeter to search for Ferrara’s remains.
Various graves registration units recovered dozens of unidentified remains from
the Hürtgen Forest. Those that could not be identified were assigned an X-number
and buried as Unknowns. In December 1950, having received no update on the
status of his remains, Ferrara was declared non-recoverable.
In 1947, a set of remains was recovered by the AGRC from District
#22B of woods within the Raffelsbrand sector of the Hürtgen Forest. The remains
were initially processed at Subordinate Identification Point #2 at Margraten,
Netherlands, then fully examined at the Central Identification Point at
Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, under the designation X-5440 Neuville. After
efforts to identify the remains were unsuccessful, they were declared
unidentifiable and interred at Neuville (today’s Ardennes American Cemetery.)
Following thorough analysis of military records and AGRC
documentation by DPAA historians and scientists, which suggested a strong
association between X-5440 Neuville and Ferrara, the remains were disinterred in
June 2017 and sent to DPAA for analysis.
To identify Ferrara’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Navy Fireman 2nd Class Albert Renner, 24,
Saint Anthony, North Dakota, killed
during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Renner 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 Renner.
Navy Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Ulis C.
Steely, 25, of Corbin, Kentucky, killed during World War II, was
accounted for on Oct. 15, 2018.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Steely 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 Steely.
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 Steely.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Steely’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces
Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA,) analysis.
Army Master Sgt. James G. Cates, 29, of
Philadelphia, Mississippi, killed during the Korean War, was
accounted for on May 31, 2019.
In late November 1950, Cates was a member of Company I, 3rd
Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Approximately 2,500
U.S. and 700 South Korean soldiers assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat
Team (RCT), which was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when
it was attacked by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces.
The American forces withdrew south with the Chinese attacks continuing.
By December 6, the U.S. Army evacuated approximately 1,500
wounded service members; the remaining Soldiers had been either captured, killed
or went missing in enemy territory. Because Cates could not be accounted for by
his unit at the end of the battle, he was reported missing in action as of Dec.
3, 1950.
In September 1954, as part of Operation Glory, where the United
Nations Command, Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces and Korean People’s Army
exchanged war dead at Munsan-ni, South Korea, the United Nations received 25
sets of remains reported to have been recovered from isolated burial sites east
of the Chosin Reservoir. The remains were sent to the Central Identification
Unit for attempted identification. One set, designated X-15903 was declared
unidentifiable. They were then transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of
the Pacific (NMCP,) known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and were interred as
Unknown.
In February 2013, following thorough historical and scientific
analysis, X-15903 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and sent to the laboratory
for analysis.
To identify Cates’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as
circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Soldier
Army Pvt. Laurel W. Ebert, 27, of
Blairstown, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Nov. 26, 1942, Ebert was a member of Company I, 126th Infantry
Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, serving as part of a nine-person patrol to
find and silence an enemy machine gun position somewhere west of the Sanananda
Track in the Cape Killerton area of the Australian Territory of Papua
(present-day Papua New Guinea.) Six members of the patrol, including Ebert,
failed to return following the mission. He was subsequently listed as missing in
action.
On Jan. 15, 1943, the remains of an unidentified American Soldier
were interred at the U.S. Temporary Cemetery Sanananda #3. In March 1945, the
remains were moved to U.S. Armed Forces Cemetery Finschhafen #2 where they were
designated “Unknown X-44.”
In 1947, the American Graves Registration service exhumed
approximately 11,000 sets of remains, including X-44, which was redesignated as
X-3127, and sent to the Central Identification Point at the Manila Mausoleum in
the Philippines. X-3127 could not be identified and was interred at Fort
McKinley (now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.)
In May 2017, Unknown X-3127 (X-44) was disinterred, and the
remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
To identify Ebert’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and
anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Brady O. Prewitt,
Liberal,
Missouri
was
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Prewitt 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 Prewitt.
Airman
From
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Paul
Cybowski, 25, of South Plainfield, New Jersey, killed during World
War II, was accounted for on July 8, 2019.
In September 1943, Cybowski was a member of the 373rd Bombardment
Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group, based in Yangkai, China. On Sept. 15, 1943,
Cybowski was a gunner aboard a B-24D aircraft, on a bombing mission over
Haiphong, French Indochina (present-day Vietnam.) Approximately 50 Japanese
fighters attacked the formation as it turned to make a run over the target,
shooting down three of the five American aircraft. Five crewmembers were able to
bail prior to the crash, but Cybowski, and four other crewmembers, were killed
during the attack.
On Oct. 12, 1945, the American Graves Registration Service
recovered five sets of remains from a European cemetery in Hai Duong, French
Indochina. The five sets included two known U.S. casualties and three Unknowns,
designated X-16, X-17 and X-18. The Unknowns were redesignated X-42, X-43 and
X-44 Kunming, and were subsequently buried in the U.S. Military Cemetery in
Kunming, China.
By April 1947, all U.S. Unknowns buried in China were disinterred
and sent to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Honolulu. In
1949, remains that could not be identified were interred at the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP,) known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu,
including Unknown X-43.
Based upon the original recovery location of X-43, a DPAA
historian determined that there was good potential to identify this Unknown. On
April 15, 2019, Unknown X-43 was disinterred and the remains were sent to the
laboratory for analysis.
To identify Cybowski’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
B-24J #42-40786 took off, with a crew of 10 and 4 other B-24's,
from Yangkai Airfield, China on a bombing mission over Hai Phong, French
Indochina (Vietnam).
The B-24's were intercepted and attacked by approximately 50 Japanese Zeros.
B-24J #42-40786 was severely damaged and many of the crew were killed in this
attack.
Some of the crew were able to bail out. The B-24 ended up crashing.
Paul was declared "Missing
In Action" on
this mission during the war.
Army Pfc. Junior C. Evans,
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Evans was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion,
31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action
on Dec. 12, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
However, accurate accountability of troops was often
difficult due to the chaotic environment and Evans likely went missing during a
battle between Nov. 27 and Dec. 6, 1950. Following the battle, his remains could
not be recovered.
Marine
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Raymond
Warren, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Warren 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.
Warren died between the first and second day of battle, Nov. 20-21, 1943.
He was reported to have been buried in the Division Cemetery, which was eventually renamed to Cemetery #27.
Marine
Marine Corps Pfc. Billy E. Johnson, 21,
Cosbyton Texas,
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Marquez was a member of 1st Marine Division,
attached to the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry
Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950,
when enemy forces attacked his unit near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Phillip C. Mendoza,
El Paso County, Texas
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Mendoza was a member of Battery D, 15th
Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat
Team.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, when enemy forces attacked his unit near Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Army Pvt. Penn Franks, Jr., 20, of San
Antonio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In February 1945, Franks was a member of Company G, 371st
Infantry Regiment 92nd Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle on the
Gothic line in the northern Apennine Mountains near Strettoia, Italy, when he
was killed in action on Feb. 10, 1945. Following the battle, his unit was unable
to recover his remains.
In July and August 1945, during search and recovery operations,
American personnel recovered a set of remains, later designated Unknown X-187
Castelfiorentino, from an area east of the town of Strettoia. The remains were
examined at the Central Identification Point at Leghorn Port Morgue in November
1948, and declared non-identifiable due to lack of sufficient identifying data.
On March 11, 1949, the American Graves Registration Service transferred Unknown
X-187 to the United States Military Cemetery Florence, present-day Florence
American Cemetery, for burial.
Based upon the original recovery location of X-187, a DPAA
historian determined that there was a good possibility the remains could be
identified. In June 2016, the Department of Defense and American Battle
Monuments Commission disinterred X-187 and accessioned the remains to the DPAA
laboratory for identification.
To identify Franks’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Navy Fire Controlman 1st Class Robert L.
Corn, from Oregon was killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Corn 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 Corn.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Hubert P. Hall,
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Hall 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 Hall.
Army Pfc. Jasper V. Marquez,
Brown, Texas
was
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Marquez was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion,
38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action
on Nov. 28, 1950,
when enemy forces attacked his unit near the Kunu-ri, North Korea.
Repatriated American prisoners of war reported that Marquez had died at Hofong Camp while a prisoner of war, in January 1951.
Army Cpl. Ralph L. Cale, Accomack
County, Va. was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Cale was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 32nd
Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. 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.
Army Pfc. Wilbur T. Tackett,
18, Clermont County, Ohio
was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Tackett was a member of Battery B, 57th Field
Artillery Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division. He was
reported missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950,
when enemy forces attacked his unit near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. His
remains could not be recovered following the attack.
Awarded Purple Heart, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Army Cpl. Ysabel A. Ortiz,
18, El Monte, California
was
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Ortiz was a member of Battery D, 15th Anti-aircraft
Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. 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.
Although he was listed as Missing In Action on
Dec. 2, 1950, his family never gave up hope that he would return home. In
January of 1954 his mother, Concha, received notice that Corporal Ysabel A.
Ortiz
had been awarded the Purple Heart Award posthumously for making the supreme
sacrifice for his county.
Airman
August 13
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Joseph E. Finneran,
Jamaica Plain, Miss.
was killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In the summer of 1943, Finneran was a bombardier assigned to the
345th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), known as the
Pyramidiers. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24D aircraft on which Finneran served
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. Of the Americans killed, only 27 could be identified, not
including Finneran.
Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Marine
August 13
Marine Corps Pvt. Edwin F. Benson, Massachusetts
was
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Benson was a member of Company L, 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.
Benson was killed on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. He was reported to have been buried in the East Division Cemetery, which was eventually renamed to Cemetery #33.
Airman
August 12
Army Air Forces Sgt. Howard F. Gotts,
23, of Flint, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
In August 1943, Gotts was a radio operator assigned to the 66th
Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy,) known as the Flying
8-Balls. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24D aircraft on which Gotts served, crashed
during Operation Tidal Wave, the largest bombing mission, against the oil fields
and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. The Romanian government
announced they had recovered and buried 216 Americans killed in the bombing
raid, but could only identify 27 of the men at the time of the recovery. The
remaining casualties were said to have been buried as Unknowns in the Hero
Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova,
Romania.
After the war, American Graves Registration Command teams
disinterred all of the American deceased in Bolovan Cemetery and transferred
them to the American Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium. Two of
Gotts’ crewmates were identified, but five other crewmembers, including Gotts,
could not be identified, and his name was not found on any prisoner of war list.
His remains were declared non-recoverable.
DPAA personnel analyzed historical documentation regarding X-5059
Neuville, which had originally been designated Bolovan X-51. Based upon the
original recovery location of X-5059, a DPAA historian determined that there was
a likely association between the remains and Gotts. On Sept. 6, 2017, the
Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission disinterred
X-5059 and accessioned the remains to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Gotts’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Army Pvt. Edward M. Morrison, 19, of
Ashland, Wisconsin, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Morrison was a member of 1st Platoon, Company B,
1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. His unit was
holding a defensive position north of P'yongt'aek, South Korea, when he was
killed by small arms fire on July 6, 1950. Morrison was the first casualty of
his company during its second engagement in the war. His remains could not be
recovered following the battle.
On April 4, 1951, a set of remains, designated Unknown X-900
Tanggok was recovered near Kwang Jong-ni, South Korea, by a team from the 565th
Graves Registration Service, and interred at the United Nations Military
Cemetery Tanggok, South Korea. Later in 1951, the remains were disinterred and
processed for identification at the Central Identification Unit at Kokura,
Japan. When identification attempts failed, they were transferred to the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP,) known as the Punchbowl, in
Honolulu and were interred as Unknown.
In April 2018, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-900 Tanggok from the
Punchbowl and sent the remains to the laboratory for analysis.
To identify Morrison’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental,
anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as
circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Army Sgt. David A. Feriend, 23,
Williamsburg, Michigan was
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Feriend was a member of Headquarters Company, 3rd
Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported
missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950,
when enemy forces attacked his unit near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
His remains could not be recovered following the attack, He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953.
Army Sgt. Walter H. Tobin, Jr., 22,
Cedar, Michigan
was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Tobin was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st
Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat
Team. He was declared 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.
He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953.
Sergeant Tobin was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal,
the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Army Sgt. Billy J. Maxwell,
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Maxwell was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 3rd
Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported
missing in action on Nov. 30,1950,
when his unit engaged against enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North
Korea. His remains could not be recovered following the battle.
August 9
Army Pfc. Lawrence E. Worthen,
Lassen County, California 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 Army,
In 1944, Worthen was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 112th
Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on
Sept. 17, 1944,
after his unit was attacked by enemy forces near Wettlingen, Germany. His remains could not be recovered after the attack.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Lyal J. Savage, 18,
Dexter, New
York
was killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
On Dec. 7, 1941, Savage 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 Savage.
Soldier
August 7
Army Pfc. Donald E. Mangan,
Elkton,
South Dakota was
killed
during the World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In 1944, Mangan was a member of Company , 1st Battalion, 112th
Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on
Sept. 17, 1944, after his unit was attacked by enemy forces near Wettlingen,
Germany. His remains could not be recovered after the attack.
Army Cpl. Norvin D. Brockett, 18, Crook,
OR. was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Brockett was a member of Company A, 57th Field
Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team. He was
declared missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950, when enemy forces attacked his unit
near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. His remains could not be recovered
following the attack.
July 31
Army Pfc. Daniel W. Gerrity, 24,
Brooklyn, NY was
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Gerrity was a member of Headquarters Battery, 2nd
Infantry Division, fighting against the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces near
Kunu-ri, North Korea.
Gerrity was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, when he could not be accounted for by his unit.
He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting in North Korea on November 30, 1950 and died in a prison camp on June 30, 1951.
July 31
Army Maj. Harvey H. Storms,
34, La Feria,
Texas
was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In late 1950, Storms was a member of Headquarters Company, 3rd
Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, which was part of the
31st Regimental Combat Team.
Major Storms was a veteran of World War II. In Korea, he was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
Shot multiple times during the assault, the 34-year-old officer
and father of four collapsed in the snow and began sliding down the ice-covered
hill.
“He must have had about ten or twelve bullet holes through his field jacket,”
He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on December 1, 1950. He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. His remains were not recovered.
July 31
Marine Corps Pfc. Joseph R. Livermore,
from California was killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In November 1943, Livermore 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.
Livermore was killed around 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.
July 31
Army Cpl. Herman R. Phy, from
Pennsylvania was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
Corporal Phy entered the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He went missing on July 6, 1953, when Chinese Communist Forces overran his unit's outposts at Hill 255, also known as Pork Chop Hill.
The final circumstances surrounding his loss were not witnessed,
and due to the active battlefield conditions, no immediate search was made for
him. U.S. forces did not regain control of Pork Chop Hill, preventing future
recovery efforts.
July 29
Army Pfc. Eugene E. Lochowicz, 20,
Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin was
killed during World War II, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
In early 1945,
He had enlisted in the Army. Served during World War II. He had
the rank of Private First Class.
Lochowiz was a member of Company A, 28th Infantry Regiment, 8th
Infantry Division.
On Feb. 23, 1945, he went missing while his unit was attempting to cross the
Roer River, near Lendersdorf, Germany.
The general crossing began at 2:50 in the morning, and by 03:45
AM, some members of Company A had reached the far shore.
Pfc Lochowicz was among the first to attempt the Crossing.
The boat Lochowicz was in capsized and his remains could not be recovered.
July 29
Army Pvt. Charlie M. Waid,
(Official DoD release will be updated following
Primary Next of Kin briefing.)
Private Charlie M. Waid, who entered the U.S. Army from California, served in the Medical Detachment of the 31st Infantry Regiment, which was stationed in the Philippines in World War II.
He was subsequently buried in Common Grave 717, along with
other prisoners who died that day.
Air Force Maj. Neal C. Ward,
24,
Brazos County,
Tx. killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for.
(Official DoD release will be updated following Primary Next of
Kin briefing.)
On June 13, 1969, Ward was a member of the 602nd Special
Operations Squadron, as the pilot of an A-1H aircraft, leading a flight of two
on an armed reconnaissance mission in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Following four bombing runs, Ward started a strafing run. His
wingman initially followed but broke off.
The wingman saw automatic weapons muzzle flashes from the target area, followed
by a large fire and explosion. He was unable to establish contact with Ward, and
did not observe a parachute.
He passed over the target area and saw debris, but was unable to identify it as Ward's wreckage.
Due to hostile enemy activity in the area, a ground search was not possible. Based on a lack of information regarding Ward's status, he was declared deceased on June 20, 1978.
Air Force Col. Roy A. Knight, Jr., 36,
of Millsap, Texas, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for.
In May 1967, Knight was a pilot with the 602nd Tactical Fighter
Squadron, assigned to Udorn Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand. On May 19, 1967,
Knight was leading a flight of two A-1E aircraft on a strike mission in northern
Laos, when his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. No parachute was observed
prior to the aircraft crashing and bursting into flames. Additionally, no beeper
signals were heard. While search and rescue efforts were initiated, an organized
search could not be conducted due to intensity of hostile ground fire in the
area. The Air Force declared Knight deceased in September 1974.
In 1991 and 1992, Joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.)
teams investigated a crash site allegedly associated with Knight’s loss,
recommending it for excavation. In March 1994, the site was excavated and life
support items were recovered. The crash site was investigated four additional
times in subsequent years.
In January and February 2019, a joint team recovered possible
human remains and additional life support items. The remains were accessioned to
the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Knight’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence.
July 18
Army Pfc. Raymond H. Middlekauff, 31, of
Baltimore, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1944, Middlekauff was a member of Company F, 2nd
Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, which was engaged in
battle against German forces near the town of Grosshau, in the Hürtgen Forest in
Germany.
He was reported missing in action as of Dec. 4, 1944, when his company
reorganized after a severe counterattack and he could not be accounted for.
Following the close of hostilities in Europe in 1945, Middlekauff
was among the hundreds of soldiers still missing from combat in the Hürtgen
Forest. On Dec. 5, 1945, after no information on his whereabouts, the War
Department declared him deceased and non-recoverable.
Between 1947 and 1950, American Graves Registration Command (AGRC)
investigative teams traveled to Grosshau to search for Middlekauff’s remains.
Various graves registration units recovered dozens of unidentified remains from
the Hürtgen Forest. Those that could not be identified were designated as
Unknowns and buried in American cemeteries in Europe.
Following thorough analysis of military records and AGRC
documentation by DPAA historians and scientists, one set of remains, Unknown
X-2773 Neuville, which was buried at present day Ardennes American Cemetery in
Belgium, was determined to have a likely association with Middlekauff. Unknown
X-2773 Neuville was disinterred in April 2018 and sent to DPAA for analysis.
To identify Middlekauff’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Additionally, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
and Y-chromosome STR DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
July 17
Army Pvt. Connie Cagle, 23, Grand Rapids,
Kent
County, Michigan
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 Army. Served during World War II. He had
the rank of Private.
In late 1942, Cagle was a member of Company K, 126th Infantry
Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, when his unit was engaged with enemy forces
along the Soputa-Sanananda Track,
near Buna, in the Australian Territory of Papua (present-day Papua New Guinea.)
Cagle was killed in action on Nov. 22, 1942.
July 16
Navy Fireman 3rd Class Jasper L. Pue,
Jr., 21, of San Antonio, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Pue 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 Pue.
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 Pue.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknown remains from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Pue’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
July 16