“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.
KHAMMOUANE, Laos --
With
1,586 service members missing in action from the Vietnam War, the Defense
POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) deploys hundreds of service members,
DoD civilians, and contractors all over the world in hopes of returning our
nation’s fallen heroes.
Recently a team of 59 personnel completed DPAA’s second Laos mission of fiscal
year 2017, covering the Central East region of Laos. From rice patties to
mountainsides,
the teams excavated thousands of square meters of land recovering important
evidence relating to missing servicemen lost during the war.
“I’m
very honored to have been part of this initiative to bring our missing home,”
said U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Walgenbach,
recovery non-commissioned officer. “This mission has been the most unique part
of my 13 year career in the military and I know others feel the same way.”
Every
team member plays an important role in mission success. Whether that is the
recovery non-commissioned officer setting up the sites,
or the recovery leader collecting scientific data, working together ensures
nothing is overlooked and the safety of the team remains number one priority.
Due
to the efforts of the teams, Laos representatives handed over possible remains
to the U.S. to be repatriated and welcomed back on American soil after 48 years.
Upon arrival the possible remains will be transported to DPAA’s laboratory for
examination and possible identification.
“During this mission I have worked along side some of the greatest men and women
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting,
and being chosen for the repatriation ceremony was a perfect way to end such a
great mission,” said U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Brod,
recovery non-commissioned officer. “It is truly an honor to be bringing closure
to the families of our fallen service members.”
The
hard work and continued dedication of these teams makes it possible for DPAA to
fulfill our nations promise and
provide fullest possible accounting for our missing service members to their
families and the nation.
U.S. Navy
Petty Officer 1st Class Ameil Fredeluces, edic, and U.S. Marine Corps. Staff
Sgt. Eddie Ludwig, explosive ordinance disposal technician,
remove dirt from units during excavation operations as part of the Defense
POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos,
Recovery Team Three executed excavation operations in
search of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while on a visual
reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over 48 years ago. DPAA’s mission
is to provide the fullest possible accounting
for our missing personnel to their families and the nation.
Members of
the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency dig units during excavation operations as
part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s
mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos. Recovery Team Three
executed excavation operations in search of two missing
U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while on a visual reconnaissance mission
during the Vietnam War over 48 years ago. DPAA’s mission is to provide the
fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the
nation.
Jack Kenkeo,
life support investigator, shovels dirt from the screening stations during
excavation operations as part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s
mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos. Recovery Team Three
executed excavation operations in search of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots
who crashed while on a visual reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over
48 years ago.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing
personnel to their families and the nation.
U.S. Army
Staff Sgt. Francis Sangiamvongse, linguist, screens soil with local villagers
during excavation operations as part of the Defense POW/MIA
Accounting Agency’s mission in the Khammouane Province, Laos.
Recovery Team Three executed excavation operations in search
of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while on a visual
reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over 48 years ago.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing
personnel to their families and the nation.
Lynn Rakos,
scientific recovery expert, waters hard soil to help with excavation operations
as part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s mission
in the Khammovan Province, Laos. Recovery Team three executed
excavation operations in search of two missing U.S. Air Force pilots
who crashed while on a visual reconnaissance mission during the Vietnam War over
48 years ago.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing
personnel to their families and the nation.
Making the effort to thank the troops for what they do out in the field
means everything.
With a DPAA recovery team in Quang Nam Province, two hours west of Da Nang,
Vietnam.
The UW-Madison
story involved
a group of six students and staff members who were part of a team that unearthed
a World War II U.S. fighter aircraft—
and possibly remains of its pilot—in the ground under a farm field in France
this summer.
The team used ground-penetrating radar and a photo taken by a
British reconnaissance plane two days after the May, 1944
crash of the P-47 Thunderbolt flown by 1st Lt. Frank Fazekas.
Search underway for Lakewood, Ohio airman of World War II
Search underway for Lakewood, Ohio airman of World War II.
Divers of the U.S. Defense
POW/MIA
Accounting Agency and Civil Defense of Grado, Italy,
prepare for an exploratory dive on the sunken B-24 bomber.
This B-24 Liberator is the same type of airplane that
Lakewood, Ohio airman Thomas McGraw was flying in when it was shot down and
crashed off the coast of Italy during World War II.
A Missing Air Crew Report details the last flight of the B-24 and nose gunner
Thomas McGraw of Lakewood, Ohio.
B-24 located in Adriatic; Crewmanis bones sought Ught Lakewood Manis remains
crewman Omber crew,am2-2k-28 bold Header from A1.
A skull fragment was recovered at the site of a wrecked B-24 bomber
off the coast of Italy that may contain the remains of
Thomas McGraw,
of Lakewood, Ohio.
An underwater view of the crash site of a B-24 off Grado, Italy.
FINDING ENSIGN HAROLD P. DeMOSS IN THE MUCK AND MIRE
“Seeing
those photos was so overwhelming that I cried like a baby”
said DeMoss’ niece, Judy Ivey. “To see this actually taking place
is not anything I ever really expected.”
Anine-person military team
has been digging up mud four days a week
in the Koolau range in search of a missing World War II pilot whose
fighter crashed in cloud cover during a night training flight.
A bucket-and-pulley system
was set up to move excavated
material to a spot where it can be bundled in tarps for
helicopter transport to Wheeler Army Airfield.
NOTE: The Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery said in a 1948 letter
to the family that “an attempt to recover the remains was
considered impracticable” because the site was 7 miles
from a traveled highway in the mountains.
On Feb. 25, 1944, Duran wasn’t supposed to be on the doomed B-24H
Liberator, nicknamed “Knock it Off.”
Normally a nose turret gunner, Duran was the substitute tail turret gunner on
the flight, replacing the usual tail gunner who had frostbite.
The earth by the headstone next to the church in this tiny mountain village was full of rocks.
Two days of digging under a hot sun had yielded buckets of
gravel, stones the size of men’s fists and many piles of dirt – but no bones.
After 73 years, Sgt. Alfonso O. Duran was still missing.
The family feels a sense of closure regardless of the outcome,
Duran said.
“What a difference it would have made to my father and to my aunt,”
she said, “to know he had died and somebody had buried him and tended the
grave.”
Members of
the recovery team attach a POW flag to the wreckage of the
Tulsamerican, a B-24 Liberator piloted by, Lt. Eugene P. Ford, a Derry Township,
Pa. native,
when it crashed into the Adriatic Sea in 1944.
FIELD OPERATIONS IN LAOS AND CAMBODIA, JANUARY/FEBRUARY, 2020
US Ambassador to
Cambodia Patrick Murphy,
prepares to screen dirt during a DPAA recovery mission in Ratanakiri Province,
Cambodia, February 1, 2020.
Mr. Alexander
Garcia-Putnam, right, a senior recovery expert assigned to DPAA,
speaks to US service members and Lao officials during a joint field activity
(JFA) in Khammouan Province, Laos, February 2, 2020
SG Carter Caraker,
USA, a DPAA supply non-commissioned officer,
passes buckets to local workers during a JFA in Khammouan Province, Laos,
February 10, 2020.
During the JFA, a group of more than 70 personnel, assigned to DPAA and
augmented from military units around the globe,
worked together to help fulfill our nation's promise to provide the fullest
possible accounting of our missing personnel.
2021 Recoveries
Underwater Recovery Mission - Vietnam:
U.S. Coast Guard underwater recovery mission in
Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, May 27 2021.
Vietnam Recovery Mission:
U.S. Army DPAA recovery team member, swings a pick axe to loosen dirt during
a recovery mission in Quang Binh province, Vietnam, July 3, 2021.
Vietnam Repatriation Ceremony:
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Detachment 2 and the Vietnam Office for
Seeking
Missing Persons (VNOSMP) held the 155th Repatriation
Ceremony on 9 July 2021 at Gia Lam Airport outside Hanoi, Vietnam.
Repatriation Ceremony – Laos:
Detachment Three-Laos, pause for a photo during the signing of remains turnover
documents
at a Repatriation Ceremony June 22, 2021 in Vientiane, Laos.
Honorable Carry from Laos:
DPAA members conducted an Honorable Carry ceremony on Joint Base Pearl Harbor
Hickam, June 23, 2021.
The remains were recently repatriated to the U.S. during a ceremony in
Vientiane, Laos.
USS Arizona was
a Pennsylvania-class battleship built
for and by the United
States Navy in
the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th
state's
recent admission into the union, the ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class
of "super-dreadnought"
battleships. Although commissioned in
1916, the ship remained stateside during World
War I.
Shortly after the end of the war, Arizona was
one of a number of American ships that briefly escorted President Woodrow
Wilson to
the Paris
Peace Conference.
The ship was sent to Turkey in 1919 at the beginning of the Greco-Turkish
War to
represent American interests for several months. Several years later, she was
transferred to the Pacific
Fleet and
remained there for the rest of her career.
Aside from a comprehensive modernization in 1929–31, Arizona was
regularly used for training exercises between the wars, including the annual Fleet
Problems
(training exercises). When an earthquake struck
Long Beach, California,
in 1933, Arizona's
crew provided aid to the survivors. Two years later, the ship was featured in a Jimmy
Cagney film, Here
Comes the Navy,
about the romantic troubles of a sailor. In April 1940, she and the rest of the
Pacific Fleet were transferred from California to Pearl
Harbor,
Hawaii, as a deterrent to Japanese
imperialism.
During the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor on
7 December 1941, Arizona was
bombed. After a bomb detonated in a powder magazine, the battleship exploded
violently and sank, killing 1,177 officers and crewmen. Unlike many of the other
ships sunk or damaged that day, Arizona was
irreparably damaged by the force of the magazine explosion, though the Navy
removed parts of the ship for reuse. The wreck still
lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial,
dedicated on 30 May 1962 to all those who died during the attack, straddles the
ship's hull.
A number of other boats were sunk in the attack, but later
recovered and repaired.
The USS California (BB-44)
lost 100 crew members that morning, after the ship suffered extensive flooding
damage when hit by two torpedoes on the port side.
Both torpedoes detonated below the armor belt causing virtually identical damage
each time.
A 250 kg bomb also entered the starboard upper deck level, which passed through
the main deck and exploded on the armored second deck,
setting off an anti-aircraft ammunition magazine and killing about 50 men.
After three days of flooding, the California settled
into the mud with only her superstructure remaining above the surface.
She was later re-floated and dry-docked at Pearl Harbor for repairs. USS California served
many missions throughout the war,
and was eventually decommissioned in February, 1947.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese bombs fell and
torpedoes slashed through the waters of Pearl Harbor,
causing a devastating amount of damage to the vessels lined up in Battleship Row
in in the dry docks nearby.
Each of the seven battleships moored there suffered some degree of damage, some
far worse than others.
The USS Arizona (BB-39)
and the USS Oklahoma (BB-37)
were completely destroyed. Though the Maryland (BB-46)
was believed by Japan to also have been sunk, she ultimately survived and became
one of the first ships to return to the war.
During the attack on Pearl Harbor, ships like the USS Cassin (DD-372),
a Mahan-class
destroyer, suffered what was originally thought to be fatal damage.
While she was extensively damaged during the attack, she was resurrected and
went on to return to service during the remainder of World War II.
The sunken battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48) at Pearl Harbor after her fires
were out, possibly on 8 December 1941.
USS Tennessee (BB-43) is inboard. A Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane (marked
“4-O-3”) is upside down on West Virginia’s main deck.
A second OS2U is partially burned out atop the Turret No. 3 catapult.
In the aftermath of the attacks on Pearl Harbor during World War Two stories emerged of sailors who were trapped in the sunken battleships, some even survived for weeks.
Those who were trapped underwater banged continuously on the side of the ship so
that anyone would hear them and come to their rescue.
When the noises were first heard many thought it was just loose wreckage or part
of the clean-up operation for the destroyed harbor.
However the day after the attack, crewmen realized that there was an eerie banging noise coming from the forward hull of the USS West Virginia, which had sunk in the harbor.
t didn’t take long for the crew and Marines based at the harbor to realize that
there was nothing they could do. They could not get to these trapped sailors in
time.
Months later rescue and salvage men who raised the USS West Virginia found the
bodies of three men who had found an airlock in a storeroom but had eventually
run out of air.
Survivors say that no one wanted to go on guard duty anywhere near the USS West
Virginia since they would hear the banging of trapped survivors all night long,
but with nothing that could be done.
When salvage crews raised the battleship West Virginia six months after the
Pearl Harbor attacks,
they found the bodies of three sailors huddled in an airtight storeroom —
and a calendar on which 16 days had been crossed off in
red pencil.
The USS Oklahoma was on Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. That was the morning that the Japanese Empire attacked the United States by surprise.
The Japanese
used dive–bombers, fighter–bombers, and torpedo planes to sink nine ships,
including five battleships, and severely damage 21 ships.
There were 2,402 US deaths from the attack. 1,177 of
those deaths were from the USS Arizona,
while 429 of the deaths were from the USS Oklahoma.
The crew of the USS Oklahoma did everything they could to fight back. In the first ten minutes of the battle, though, eight torpedoes hit the Oklahoma, and she began to capsize. A ninth torpedo would hit her as she sunk in the mud. 14 Marines, and 415 sailors would give their lives. 32 men were cut out through the hull while the others were beneath the waterline. Banging could be heard for over 3 days and then there was silence.
After the battle, the Navy decided that they could not salvage the Oklahoma due to how much damage she had received. The difficult savage job began in March 1943, and Oklahoma entered dry dock 28 December. Decommissioning September 1, 1944, Oklahoma was stripped of guns and superstructure, and sold December 5, 1946 to Moore Drydock Co., Oakland, Calif. Oklahoma parted her tow line and sank May 17, 1947. 540 miles out, bound from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco. Today, there is a memorial to the USS Oklahoma and the 429 sailors and marines lost on December 7, 1941, located on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The minelayer Oglala technically
didn't suffer a hit on December 7, but a torpedo passed under it and hit the USS
Helena.
The blast from that crippled the old Oglala which
had been built as a civilian vessel in 1906.
The crewmembers took their guns to the Navy Yard Dock and set them up to provide
more defenses.
They also set up a first aid station that saved the lives of West Virginia
crewmembers.
The ship suffered horribly, eventually capsizing and sinking
until just a few feet of the ship's starboard side remained above water.
It was declared lost, and the Navy even considered blowing it up with dynamite
to clear the dock it had sunk next to.
But the decision was made that it could destroy the dock, so the Navy had to
refloat it. At that point, it made sense to dry dock and repair it.
None of the crew of Oglala were killed in the attack, although three received injuries.
Sean Patterson, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System Department
of Defense DNA Quality Management Section DNA Analyst,
replaces U. S. Navy Fireman 1st Class Billy James Johnson's picture background,
signifying him as an identified service member who was previously missing in
action.
Johnson marks the 200th service member to be identified following the December
7, 1941 Pearl Harbor
attack where 429 U.S. Sailors and Marines were killed on the USS Oklahoma
(BB-37).
A
series of large posters hang in the conference room of the Defense POW/MIA
Accounting Agency laboratory located at Offutt Air Base, Nebraska.
The heading on each of the posters states “USS OKLAHOMA.” Underneath the
headings are neat rows of printed rectangular frames.
Each one represents a person who was unaccounted for when the USS Oklahoma was
sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Thanks
to the work of Dr. Brown’s team, the remains of 200 previously unknown crewmen
from the USS Oklahoma
have now been returned to their families for proper burial and their families
have those long-awaited answers.
The story of the USS Oklahoma’s lost crewmen is
an evolving history lesson that began on what
President Franklin D. Roosevelt called
“a date that will live in infamy.”
LIST OF USS OKLAHOMA IDENTIFICATIONS FROM MICHIGAN:
(Please note that in some USS Oklahoma identifications,
the primary next of kin has yet to be notified,
and therefore the names will not be released at this time.)
Seaman Second Class Warren P. Hickok of Kalamazoo, Mich.
Staff Sgt. Joseph M. King, of Detroit, Mich.
Fireman Third Class Gerald G. Lehman, of Hancock, Mich.
Machinist Mate First Class Fred M. Jones, 30 of Port Huron, Michigan
Navy Fireman 2nd Class Lowell E. Valley, 19, of Ontonagon, Michigan,
Navy Seaman 1st Class Robert W. Headington, 19, Bay City, Michigan
Navy Seaman 2nd Class John C. Auld, 23, Grosse Park, Michigan,
Navy Ensign William M. Finnegan, 44, of Bessemer, Michigan,
Navy Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Fred M. Jones, 31, of Otter Lake, Michigan,
Navy Seaman 1st Class Robert W. Headington, 19, of Bay City, Michigan,
Navy Seaman 1st Class Edward Wasielewski, Plymouth, MI
U.S. Naval Reserve Ensign Frances
C. Flaherty, 22, of
Navy Seaman 1st Class Joe R. Nightingale, 20, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Navy Seaman 1st Class Edward Wasielewski, 21, of Detroit,
U.S. Naval Reserve Ensign Francis C. Flaherty, 22, of Charlotte, Michigan,
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Raymond D. Boynton, 19, Grand Rapids, MI
Navy Seaman 1st Class Wilbur F. Ballance, 20, Paw Paw, Michigan
It is through this effort that the accounting community
has been able to honor the sacrifices of the USS Oklahoma Sailors and Marines
and their families who pushed for the fullest possible accounting of their loved
ones.
Ford Island
is seen in this aerial view during the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor December
7, 1941 in Hawaii.
(The photo was taken from a Japanese plane.)
Remember
the fallen: In all, 429 people on board the
battleship were killed in the attack.
Only 35 were identified in the years immediately after.
Battleship
USS Oklahoma unturned hull at the bottom of Pearl Harbor
after the devastating Japanese bombing attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
Breakdown by War - Still Unaccounted for/Unreturned Veterans:
WW I 3,343
WW II 72,784
Korea 7,676
Vietnam 1,584
Cold War 126
Gulf/Other 6
Total 85,519
*As of June 2021
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
WWII
from MICHIGAN - 2446
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Korea
from MICHIGAN - 331
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Cold War
from MICHIGAN - 4
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Viet Nam
from MICHIGAN - 48
RECENTLY
FOUND
HEROES in 2022
Army Pfc. David N. Owens, 27, of Green
Hills, North Carolina, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Owens was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion,
12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle
with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was
reported missing in action on Nov. 22. His body unable to be recovered, and the
Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. He was declared killed in
action Nov. 23, 1945.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration
Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel
in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between
1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Owens’ remains. He was
declared non-recoverable in December 1950.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a
DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated
X-2707 Neuville, recovered near Hürtgen in 1946 possibly belonged to Owens. The
remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle
Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1950, were
disinterred in August 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force
Base, Nebraska, for identification.
Owens’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Margarten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Owens will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,
Virginia, at a date yet to be determined.
August 5
U.S. Army Cpl. Tommie T. Hanks, 27, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Hanks was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion,
24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, 8th Army.
He was reported missing in action on Nov. 26, while his unit was attempting to withdraw from east of the Ch’ongch’on Rver near Anju, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered, and there is no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war.
Hanks was declared nonrecoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
August 5
Army Sgt. Charles Garrigus, 24, Gibson, IN killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Garrigus was a member of Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry
Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, during battle with enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Sergeant Charles Garrigus (ASN: RA-35968746), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving with Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Sergeant Garrigus distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, during the period 27 November 1950 through 1 December 1950.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered, and there is no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war.
Charles Garrigus is buried or memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
Army Pfc. Lowell D. Smith, 24, of
Battle Creek, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
In January 1945, Smith was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion,
157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. The unit was in regimental
reserve during the Battle of Reipertswiller in France. On Jan. 21, Smith was
part of a Browning Automatic Rifle squad when his company attacked German forces
surrounding several companies in an attempt to help them break out. Company F
immediately drew enemy artillery and mortar fire followed by sniper and
machine-gun fire and was forced to withdraw.
When the unit reassembled following the withdrawal, Smith was
missing. In May that year, Army personnel reviewing captured German records
discovered a German death report for Smith dated the day he went missing.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in
the European Theater, searched the area around Reipertswiller, finding 37
unidentified sets of American remains, but it was unable to identify any of them
as Smith. He was declared non-recoverable on July 19, 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into
Soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found that Unknown
X-8062 St. Avold, buried at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle
Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, could be associated with Smith.
X-8062 was disinterred in June 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at
Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
Smith’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal
American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Dinozé,
France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Smith will be buried in Augusta, Michigan, at a date yet to be
determined.
Navy Fire Controlman 1st Class Hubert P.
Clement, 30, of Inman, South Carolina, killed during World War II,
was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Clement 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 Clement.
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 Clement.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Clement’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monument
Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who
are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Clement will be buried Oct. 10, 2022, at the Punchbowl.
Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Fay G. Teter, 17, Ardmore, MO killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1943, Teter 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.
Teter was killed on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22, 1943.
The day after he died, Private Teter was reportedly buried in “Gilbert Islands Cemetery”
His remains were reportedly buried in Cemetery 33.
Marine
Marine Corps Reserve 2nd Lt. Gordon E. Thompson, 22, Moccasin, MT killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In August 1942, Thompson was a member of Marine Fighting Squadron
224, Marine Aircraft Group 23. On Aug. 31, he was piloting one of 26 Grumman F4F
Wildcat fighters on an interception mission near Guadalcanal. Despite no enemy
contact, Thompson was one of three who failed to return from the mission.
One of the pilots returned 10 days later, but Thompson was never seen again and was listed as missing in action.
Speculation ran rife among the pilots – enemy action,
disorientation, engine failure – but veterans blamed the notorious oxygen system
of the Wildcat itself.
The three young officers were listed as missing in action that afternoon.
The Department of the Navy issued a finding of death on Jan. 8, 1946.
Army Pvt. Carl G. Dorsey, 19, of Moline,
Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In December 1944, Dorsey was assigned to Company I, 3rd
Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged
in battle with German forces near Grosshau, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when
he was reported missing in action on Dec. 4. His body unable to be recovered,
and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war.
He was declared killed in action Dec. 5, 1945.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration
Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel
in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between
1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Dorsey’s remains. He was
declared non-recoverable in December 1950.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a
DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated
X-2760 Neuville, recovered east of Grosshau near Gey, Germany, in 1946 possibly
belonged to Dorsey. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American
Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz,
Belgium, in 1950, were disinterred in July 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory
at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.
Dorsey’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Margarten, Netherlands,
along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Dorsey will be buried Sept. 3, 2022, in Grenola, Kansas.
U.S. Army Pfc. Arthur L. Pierce, 26, Middlesex County, Massachusetts who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Pierce was a member of the 803rd Engineer Battalion
in the Philippines, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in
December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula
on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and
interned at POW camps. Pierce was among those reported captured when U.S. forces
in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death
March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in
this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical
records, Pierce died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased
prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.
Arthur L Pierce is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. George
B. Walker, 25, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, killed during World
War II, was accounted for.
In the winter of 1944, Walker was assigned to the 369th
Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On Feb. 3,
he was the engineer and turret gunner aboard a B-17G Flying Fortress bomber that
was part of a large bombing mission against the Wilhelmshaven Naval Shipyard in
Wilhelmshaven, Germany. When the formation was flying near Oldenburg, it came
under anti-aircraft fire. Even though there was no obvious damage, Walker’s
bomber began to lag behind the formation as it experienced general mechanical
failure.
The pilot flew the B-17 over the water and the crew bailed out. Germans captured several of the crew, including Walker, who was sent to Stalag Luft 6, a prisoner of war camp in Heydekrug, Germany.
Walker was one of only three Americans who died
in that POW camp. He died April 28 when he was shot while trying to escape.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in
the European Theater, was unable to recover the three Americans’ remains because
Stalag Luft 6, now inside Lithuania because of post-war border shifting, was
deep inside the Soviet occupation zone. In 1948, the AGRC provided a list of
Americans whose remains were believed to be in Soviet territory to the Soviet
government, but Walker’s couldn’t remains couldn’t be identified. The AGRC
provided additional information on Walker to the Soviets in 1950, but by
September 1951, he could still not be found. He was declared non-recoverable on
March 25, 1954.
After Lithuania became independent in 1992, the U.S.-Russia Joint
Commission on POW/MIAs requested the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius look into Walker’s
case. They discovered the Soviet Union destroyed Stalag Luft 6 in 1955 and
reverted the area to farmland. In 2006, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting
Command (JPAC), a DPAA predecessor, and the Joint Commission Support
Directorate, investigated the site and recommended excavation. However,
significant issues prevented them from sending a recovery team. Around this
time, the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO), also a DPAA predecessor,
found several new sources of information pertaining to the case at the National
Archives.
DPAA partnered with Ohio Valley Archeology, Inc. (OVAI) in 2019,
and an OVAI team investigated the sight that September, finding possible
gravesites for the three missing Americans. A Lithuanian archeological group
called Kulturos Vertybiu Globa (Guardianship of Cultural Values) was also active
in the area and was planning an excavation of Polish and Lithuanian remains near
Stalag Luft 6, so DPAA partnered with them to excavate the possible gravesites,
which they did in August 2021. The remains found at the site were transferred to
the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
Walker’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)
site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Walker will be buried in his hometown. The date has yet to be
determined.
August 3
U.S. Army Cpl. Alton Christie, 18, Hamilton county, Florida killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Christie was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion,
21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on July 5 after his unit has been engaged by the Korean People’s Army near Osan, South Korea.
There is no indication his remains were recovered after the battle and he was never recorded as a prisoner of war.
The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953, and his remains were determined to be nonrecoverable in January 1956.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Peter A. Timpo, 24, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Timpo was assigned to the 343rd
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force.
On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Timpo was serving as the bombardier was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
His remains were not identified following the war.
The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
U.S. Army Pfc. Willard H. Brinks, 24, from Kalamazoo, Michigan killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1942, Brinks was assigned to the Company K, 3rd
Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, deployed in present
day Papua New Guinea.
As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat to Port Moresby, the Allied center of communications in the area, Brinks’ unit attempted to flank the enemy defensive lines stretched across the Sanananda Track in northern Papua.
Brinks was reported as killed in action on Nov. 22, the first day of the Allied attack.
Private First Class Brinks is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Army Pvt. Myron E. Williams, 29, from Illinois killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Williams was assigned to Company L, 3rd
Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.
His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was reported missing in action on Nov. 16.
His body unable to be recovered, and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war.
He was declared killed in action Nov. 17, 1945.
Private Williams is Memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.
U.S. Army Air Forces Cpl. Merle L. Pickup, 27, Utah County, Utah killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In May 1944, Pickup was assigned to the 308th Bombardment Group
(Heavy), 373rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), stationed in Yangkai, China.
He was a passenger onboard a B-24J Liberator bomber on a ferrying mission from China to Chabua, Assam, India.
The plane never made it to its destination after encountering bad weather, and the Army reported the plane as missing.
Merle L Pickup is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Army Pfc. Arthur C. Barrett, 27, Clinton County, New York who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Barrett was a member of the 31st Infantry Regiment,
when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense
fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942,
and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and
interned at POW camps. Barrett was among those reported captured when U.S.
forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile
Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500
POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Barrett
died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the
local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.
Arthur C Barrett is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
August 2
U.S. Army Pfc. Harry J. Hartmann, Jr., 19, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In the fall of 1950, Hartmann was a member of E Company, 2nd
Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Nov. 2 during fighting near Unsan, North Korea.
Repatriated POWs reported he had been captured and held as a prisoner of war at Camp #5, Pyoktang, North Korea, where he died on or around March 31, 1951.
August 2
Army Sgt. 1st Class James A. Coleman,
22, of Hillsdale, Indiana, killed during the Korean War, was
accounted for.
In April 1951, Coleman was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion,
19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in
action on April 25 during fighting against Chinese Communist Forces near the
Hwach-on Reservoir in the modern-day Republic of Korea (ROK). His status was
changed to killed in action on Oct. 3, 1952, based on eyewitness accounts from a
Soldier in a neighboring foxhole. His body was unable to be recovered due to the
fighting.
The American Graves Registration Service Group (AGRSG) was
responsible for recovering, identifying, and repatriating those lost during the
Korean War. On May 18, 1953, they recovered two sets of remains near the village
of Tumun-gol. One set was reported to have been a Korean who was returned to the
ROK. The other set of remains, designated X-5960 Tanggok, could not be
identified and was buried in the United Nations Military Cemetery Tanggok.
After the end of fighting in 1953, unknown remains from the
Korean peninsula were transferred to the Central Identification Unit Kokura in
Japan. They were unable to identify X-5960. All 848 unidentified sets of remains
were sent to Hawaii in 1956 where they were buried at the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Coleman’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments
Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Coleman will be buried Oct. 19, 2022, at Arlington National
Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
August 2
U.S. Army Pfc. Donald M. Born, 19, of
Steubenville, Ohio, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Born was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 19th
Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. His unit took part in defensive
action near Chinju at the southern end of the Korean peninsula. Early in the
morning of July 30, the North Korean People’s Army launched a probing attack
against Born’s unit, which then withdrew to a new position. He went missing
during the attack but was not reported as officially missing in action until a
month later.
Born was never listed as a prisoner of war, and the Army issued a
presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
In January 1951, remains, designated X-220 Masan, were recovered
near the village of Pyonggo-ri in the vicinity of Chinju. The remains were
initially interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery Masan before being moved to the
Central Identification Unit-Kokura in Japan. While examiners thought Born could
be associated with X-220, they could not definitively prove it. X-220 was later
transported with all of the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as an
Unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the
Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In March 2019, during Phase 1 of DPAA’s Korean War Disinterment
Project, X-220 was disinterred from the Punchbowl as part of the planned
exhumation of all remains originating from the Masan area of the Pusan
Perimeter, and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam,
Hawaii for analysis.
Born’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Born will be buried Aug. 30, 2022, in Annville, Pennsylvania.
July 20
Navy Machinst’s Mate 1st Class Keith W. Tipsword, 27, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Tipsword 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 Tipsword.
July 20
Navy Shipfitter 2nd Class Claude R. Garcia, 25, killed during World War II, was accounted for on.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Garcia 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 Garcia.
Soldier
July 19
U.S. Army Pfc. Donald Hofman, 19, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Hofman was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd
Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division.
Elements of the unit were supporting five companies attempting to secure terrain near Reipertswiller, France, when they were surrounded by German forces while being pounded by artillery and mortar fire.
The surrounded companies were given the order to attempt a break-out on Jan. 20, but only two men made it through German lines.
The rest were either captured or killed. Hofman was among those killed, but his body could not be recovered because of the fighting.
July 18
U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Zelwood A. Gravlin, 21, Hartford County, Connecticut killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Gravlin was assigned to the 343rd
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force.
On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Gravlin was serving as the armorer-gunner was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
His remains were not identified following the war.
The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Zelwood Alpha Gravlin is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
Soldier
July 18
U.S. Army Pfc. John W. Gordon, 32, Cook County, Illinois killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Gordon was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion,
157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division.
The unit was engaged with German forces during the Battle of Reipertswiller in France. On Jan. 17, Gordon was killed when his company, which had been cut off from allied forces the day before, was subjected to a German counterattack.
By Jan. 20, all of the men from Company G had been killed or captured, and American forces were unable to recover Gordon’s body.
John W Gordon is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France.
Soldier
July 15
Army Pvt. Alevin A. Hathaway, 20, of
Hinesburg, Vermont, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Hathaway was assigned to Company E, 2nd
Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged
in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when
he was reported missing in action on Nov. 6. His body was not recovered, and he
was declared killed in action Nov. 7, 1945.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration
Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel
in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between
1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Hathaway’s remains. He was
declared non-recoverable in December 1950.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a
DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated
X-2739 Neuville, recovered from a minefield south of Hürtgen in 1946 possibly
belonged to Hathaway. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American
Cemetery in 1950, were disinterred in April 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory
at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.
Hathaway’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Margarten, Netherlands,
along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Hathaway will be buried in his hometown. The date has yet to be
decided.
July 15
Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. William R.
Ragsdale, 23, of Nashville, Tennessee, killed during World War II,
was accounted for.
In June 1944, Ragsdale was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st
Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which was part of the
invasion force of the island of Saipan in a larger effort to capture the Mariana
Islands from Japan. Ragsdale was initially reported as wounded in action and
evacuated from Saipan on June 28. When he was unable to be found during the
chaos surrounding the battle and its aftermath, his status was changed to
missing in action and then later deceased.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration
Service (AGRS) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American
personnel in the Pacific Theater. They searched for and disinterred remains on
Saipan, but could not identify any as Ragsdale. He was declared non-recoverable
in September 1949.
Remains designated as Unknown X-6 27th Infantry Division Cemetery
were recovered from Saipan and interred in the Fort William McKinley Cemetery,
now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments
Commission site in the Philippines.
After thorough historical research, it was determined that X-6
could likely be identified. On Jan. 15, 2020, Unknown X-6 was disinterred and
sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for
analysis.
Ragsdale’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who
are still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Ragsdale will be buried Aug. 6, 2022, in his hometown.
Soldier
July 15
Army Pfc. John L. Ferguson, 20, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Ferguson was a member of the 28th Materiel
Squadron, U.S. Army Air Forces, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine
Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan
peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and
interned at POW camps.
Ferguson was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death
March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in
this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical
records, Ferguson died Dec. 10, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased
prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery
in Common Grave 917.
July 14
U.S. Army Pvt. Felix M. Yanez, 19, Cochise County, Arizona who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Yanez was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters
Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
He was killed in action fighting the North Korean People’s Army along the Kum River, north of Taejon, South Korea, on July 16, 1950.
Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time.
Felix M Yanez is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
July 14
U.S. Army Pfc. Melvin J. Little Bear, 21, Carey, Blaine, Idaho who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
After joining the Army Air Force he was stationed in San Antonio
and then Amarillo Texas. He next received further training at Lowry Field Denver
Colorado.
From there he was transferred for a short time to Lincoln A.A.F. in Nebraska.
His last assignment before going over seas to the Pacific theatre was Clovis,
New Mexico.
In 1951, Little Bear was a member of Able Battery, 15th Field
Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Feb. 13 after his unit was
attacked by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces and conducted a two-day
withdrawal from Changbong-ni,
South Korea, to Wonju.
He had been captured and was a prisoner of war at POW Camp No. 1 in North Korea.
Repatriated POWs reports and information from Chinese and North Korean forces said he died in captivity on or about July 21, 1951.
U.S. Army Pvt. Felix M. Yanez, 19, Bay City, Matagorda County, Texas who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Yanez was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters
Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
He was killed in action fighting the North Korean People’s Army along the Kum River, north of Taejon, South Korea, on July 16, 1950.
Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time.
Felix is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
July 14
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Pharis E. Weekley, 21, Hendry County, Florida killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Weekley was assigned to the 329th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force.
On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Weekley was serving as the navigator was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war.
The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Pharis E Weekley is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
July 14
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Moses F. Tate, 23
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Moses F. Tate, 23, Nemaha County, Kansas killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Tate was assigned to the 415th Bombardment
Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force.
On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Tate was serving as a gunner was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war.
The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Moses F Tate is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
July 14
Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. Jack S. Brown,
22, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In July 1944, Brown was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion,
24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which was part of the invasion force
of the island of Saipan in a larger effort to capture the Mariana Islands from
Japan. Brown was reported killed in action on July 8, but his body was not able
to be recovered. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration
Service (AGRS) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American
personnel in the Pacific Theater. They searched for and disinterred remains on
Saipan, but could not identify any as Brown. He was declared non-recoverable in
November 1950.
Remains designated as Unknown X-30 2nd Marine Division Cemetery
Saipan were recovered from Saipan and interred in the Fort William McKinley
Cemetery, now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle
Monuments Commission site in the Philippines.
After thorough historical research, it was determined that X-30
could likely be identified. Unknown X-30 was disinterred in March 2021, and sent
to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
Brown’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who
are still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Brown will be buried Aug. 13, 2022, in Norfolk, Virginia.
July 13
Army Air Forces Sgt. Herald R. Boyd, 25, San Patricio County, Texas killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In February 1945, Boyd was assigned to 350th Bombardment
Squadron, 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force in the European
Theater.
On Feb. 3, the B-17G Flying Fortress bomber on which he was
serving as a gunner was part of a large mission to bomb the Tempelhof
marshalling yard in Berlin.
Boyd’s bomber was one of 21 B-17s lost during the mission.
Witnesses from other aircraft said the bomber had been struck by a ground rocket
immediately after dropping its bombs.
The pilot tried to save the plane, but he was unsuccessful, and it crashed in a residential area of Berlin. Seven of the nine crew members were killed.
The other two were captured and became prisoners of war.
German records do not list Boyd among bodies recovered from the
wreckage. One of the surviving crew members confirmed Boyd had been killed in
the crash,
and the War Department issued a report of death on Jan. 12, 1946.
Herald R Boyd is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.
July 8
Navy Fireman 1st Class Beoin H. Corzatt, 24, of
Arcanum, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Corzatt 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 Corzatt.
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 Corzatt.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Corzatt’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Corzatt will be buried on Sept. 21, 2022, at the Punchbowl.
July 5
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. William
F. Teaff, 26, of Steubenville, Ohio, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In the spring of 1944, Teaff was assigned to the 351st
Bombardment Squadron, 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On March
6, he was the radio operator aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that was part
of a larger mission to bomb targets in Berlin. German fighters attacked the
B-17’s formation while it flew over the Netherlands, and Teaff’s plane was
destroyed. The entire crew except for the navigator, who was killed when the
plane was hit, was able to bail out before the B-17 blew up in the sky.
The crew was captured by the Germans and several of them,
including Teaff, were sent to Stalag Luft 6, a prisoner of war camp in Heydekrug,
Germany.
Teaff was one of only three Americans who died in that POW camp.
He died July 10 in the nearby village of Macikai, Lithuania, where he was
receiving medical treatment for diptheria.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in
the European Theater, was unable to recover the three Americans’ remains because
Stalag Luft 6, now inside Lithuania because of post-war border shifting, was
deep inside the Soviet occupation zone. In 1948, the AGRC provided a list of
Americans whose remains were believed to be in Soviet territory to the Soviet
government, but Teaff’s remains couldn’t be identified. The AGRC provided
additional information on Teaff to the Soviets in 1950, but by September 1951,
he could still not be found. He was declared non-recoverable on March 25, 1954.
After Lithuania became independent in 1992, the U.S.-Russia Joint
Commission on POW/MIAs requested the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius look into Teaff’s
case. They discovered the Soviet Union destroyed Stalag Luft 6 in 1955 and
reverted the area to farmland. In 2006, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting
Command (JPAC), a DPAA predecessor, and the Joint Commission Support Directorate
investigated the site and recommended excavation. However, significant issues
prevented them from sending a recovery team. Around this time, the Defense
POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO), also a DPAA predecessor, found several new
sources of information pertaining to the case at the National Archives.
DPAA partnered with Ohio Valley Archeology, Inc. (OVAI) in 2019,
and an OVAI team investigated the site that September, finding possible
gravesites for the three missing Americans. A Lithuanian archeological group
called Kulturos Vertybiu Globa (Guardianship of Cultural Values) was also active
in the area and was planning an excavation of Polish and Lithuanian remains near
Stalag Luft 6, so DPAA partnered with them to excavate the possible gravesites,
which they did in August 2021. The remains found at the site were transferred to
the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
To identify Teaff’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and
anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence.
Teaff’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)
site in Margraten, Netherlands,
along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
The date and location for Teaff’s funeral have yet to be
determined.
Airman
June 30
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. William
O. Wood, 25, of Valdosta, Georgia, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Wood was assigned to the 328th Bombardment
Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On Aug. 1,
1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Wood was serving as a gunner crashed
as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest
bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of
Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The
remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section
of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel,
disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification.
The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and
those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle
American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated
with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were
sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination
and identification.
Wood’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Wood will be buried Aug. 1, 2022, in Tallahassee, Florida.
June 30
Navy Fire Controlman 3rd Class Robert T.
Stout, 21, of El Reno, Oklahoma, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Stout 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 Stout.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the
remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and
Nu’uanu Cemeteries.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen
U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves
Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the
two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at
Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the
identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS
subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In
October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as
non-recoverable, including Stout.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Stout’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Stout will be buried in Cottonwood, California. The date has yet
to be determined.
June 29
Navy Shopfitter 3rd Class Francis L.
Hannon, 20, of Middletown, Indiana, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Hannon 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 Hannon.
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 Hannon.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Hannon’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces
Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Hannon’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Hannon will be buried on Oct. 13, 2022, at the Punchbowl.
June 29
U.S. Army Pfc. Donald M. Born, 19, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Born was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 19th
Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
His unit took part in defensive action near Chinju at the southern end of the Korean peninsula.
Early in the morning of July 30, the North Korean People’s Army launched a probing attack against Born’s unit, which then withdrew to a new position.
He went missing during the attack but was not reported as officially missing in action until a month later.
Born was never listed as a prisoner of war, and the Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953
June 29
U.S. Army Pfc. Edward J. Reiter, 17, Northampton, Pa. killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Reiter was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion,
34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on July 7 after his unit sustained heavy casualties while defending against the North Korean army’s advance near Ch’onan, South Korea.
His body was not recovered because his unit was forced to retreat, nor were any remains found that could be identified as Reiter.
The Army declared him non-recoverable in January 1956 and issued a presumptive finding of death after the end of the war.
June 29
U.S. Army Pfc. Lowell D. Smith, 24, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Smith was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion,
157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division.
The unit was in regimental reserve during the Battle of
Reipertswiller in France. On Jan. 21, Smith was part of a Browning Automatic
Rifle squad when his company attacked German forces
surrounding several companies in an attempt to help them break out.
Company F immediately drew enemy artillery and mortar fire followed by sniper and machinegun fire and was forced to withdraw.
When the unit reassembled following the withdrawal, Smith was missing.
In May that year, Army personnel reviewing captured German records discovered a German death report for Smith dated the day he went missing.
Marine
June 29
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur B. Ervin, 22, McCurtain, Oklahoma killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In July 1944, Ervin was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion,
24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which was part of the invasion force
of the island of Saipan in a larger effort to capture
the Mariana Islands from Japan.
On July 5, Ervin was shot and killed by a sniper while trying to assist a wounded comrade.
Due to the chaos surrounding the battle and its aftermath, his body was unable to be recovered.
June 28
U.S. Army Pfc. Francis P. Martin, 25, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Martin was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion,
157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division.
The unit had penetrated the German lines near Reipertswiller,
France, which left its flanks open to German forces. On Jan. 16, Martin was on a
truck convoy bringing rations to the front lines.
The convoy was ambushed, and Martin was not among the men who escaped.
Over the next few days, the Germans surrounded the 157th forces, preventing any search for Martin or the recovery of his body.
With no evidence in captured German records that he survived the ambush or was held as a prisoner of war, the War Department issued a finding of death on Jan. 17, 1946.
June 27
Army Pfc. Worley D. Jacks, 21, Gallia County, Ohio killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In March 1945, Jacks was assigned to Company L, 232nd Infantry
Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division.
His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Lichtenberg, France, when he was wounded and reported missing in action on March 7.
His body unable to be recovered, and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. On Oct. 4, 1945, the War Department declared Jacks killed in action.
Worley D Jacks is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France.
June 27
Army Pfc. Robert L. Alexander, 27, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In July 1944, Alexander was a member of the 105th Infantry
Regiment, 27th Infantry Division, fighting the Japanese on Saipan in the Mariana
Islands.
Alexander was killed July 7 when the Japanese general on Saipan ordered his forces into a mass suicide, or “banzai,” attack against the 105th's lines.
Airman
June 24
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Roy Carney, 20, Tennessee killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Carney was assigned to the 345th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force.
On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Carney was
serving as a gunner crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during
Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission
against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
His remains were not identified following the war.
The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Tanker
June 24
U.S. Army Pvt. John P. Cooper, 37,
from Los Angeles,
In March 1945, Cooper was assigned to Company B, 778th Tank
Battalion, as a crew member of an M4 Sherman tank. His unit was engaged in
battle with German forces at Pellingen,
near Lampaden, Germany, on March 7 when his tank was struck by an enemy
shoulder-fired rocket.
Witnesses saw Cooper escape the tank, but he was never seen or heard from again.
The Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war, and his body was never found. He was declared missing in action.
On March 8, 1946, with no evidence Cooper survived the fighting, the War Department issued a presumptive finding of death.
June 24
U.S. Army Sgt. Garland W. Collier, 21, Novice, Texas killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the fall of 1944, Collier was assigned to Headquarters Co.,
3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
He was reported killed in action during Operation MARKET GARDEN when his unit was attacked by German forces near Opheusden, The Netherlands.
His body was unable to be recovered.
A family memorial was erected in his honor in the White Chapel Community Cemetery, Coleman, Texas, between the graves of his parents.
He is memorialized at the World War II Memorial, Washington, DC.
He is also honored on a memorial placque, erected in 1999, in Opheusden, in The Netherlands.
June 1
Army Tech. Sgt. Ross H. Thompson, 50, of
Maryville, Tennessee, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war
during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Thompson was a member of the Finance Department,
U.S. Army Forces Far East (USAFE), when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine
Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the
Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and
interned at POW camps. Thompson was among those reported captured when USAFE
forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile
Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500
POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp records, Thompson
died Dec. 10, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in
the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery, in Common Grave 917.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS)
personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the
remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS
examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Five of the sets of remains
from Common Grave 917 were identified, but the rest were declared
unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American
Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) on Feb. 15 and 16, 1950, as Unknowns.
In March 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 917 were
disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam,
Hawaii, for analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM,
Thompson’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the
American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Thompson will be buried in Kent, Washington. The
date has yet to be determined.
June 1
Army Pfc. David N. Owens, 27, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Owens was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion,
12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.
His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was reported missing in action on Nov. 22.
His body unable to be recovered, and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war.
He was declared killed in action Nov. 23, 1945.
June 16
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Casimir P. Lobacz,
25, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
In the early fall of 1944, Lobacz was assigned to Company E, 11th
Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division. The unit was advancing through France
as part of what was unofficially called the Lorraine Campaign. On Sept. 27,
Lobacz’s unit was part of the ground attack on Fort Driant, near Metz. He was
reported to have been killed during the first wave of the assault. However, due
to enemy fire, his body was unable to be recovered. When the fort was attacked a
second time a few days later, Lobacz’s body could not be found.
In April 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in
the European Theater, searched the Fort Driant area for Lobacz and others still
unaccounted for from the attack. While local residents were able to confirm a
number of bodies had been recovered from the area, none of the remains could be
identified as Lobacz. The AGRC performed a second search in 1950, but found no
further remains and concluded they had exhausted all possibilities. Lobacz was
declared non-recoverable in February 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into
Soldiers missing from the Lorraine Campaign, and found that an Unknown, X-60
Limey, buried at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments
Commission site in St. Avold, France, could be associated with Lobacz or two
other Soldiers. X-60 was disinterred in June 2021 and transferred to the DPAA
Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
Lobacz’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Lorraine
American Cemetery, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Lobacz will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Virginia. The date has yet to be determined.
June 13
U.S. Army Pfc. Sanford Keith Bowen, 26
U.S. Army Pfc. Sanford Keith Bowen, 26,
of Ashland, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1945, Bowen was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion,
157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. The unit was attempting to
secure terrain near Reipertswiller, France, when it was surrounded by German
forces while being pounded by artillery and mortar fire. Company I and the four
other companies surrounded with it were given the order to attempt a break-out
on Jan. 20, but only two men from Company I made it through German lines. The
rest were either captured or killed. Bowen was among those killed, but his body
could not be recovered because of the fighting.
Beginning in 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in
the European Theater, searched the area around Reipertswiller, finding 37
unidentified sets of American remains, but it was unable to identify any of them
as Bowen. He was declared non-recoverable on May 8, 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into
Soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found that Unknown
X-6083 St. Avold, buried at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle
Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, could be associated with Bowen
or four other Soldiers. X-6083 was disinterred in June 2021 and transferred to
the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
Bowen’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal
American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Bowen will be buried July 22, 2022, in Shiloh, Ohio.
June 10
Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Arthur B.
Summers, 27, of Poplar, Montana, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In November 1943, Summers was a member of Company I, 3rd
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. Summers was killed on the fourth day of the battle, Nov.
23, 1943. His remains were reportedly buried in Cemetery 33.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company
centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery
for later repatriation. However, almost half of the known casualties were never
found. No recovered remains could be associated with Summers, and, in October
1949, a Board of Review declared him “non-recoverable.”
In 2009, History Flight, Inc., a nonprofit organization,
discovered a burial site on Betio Island believed to be Cemetery 33, which has
been the site of numerous excavations ever since. In March 2019, excavations
west of Cemetery 33 revealed a previously undiscovered burial site that has
since been identified as Row D. The remains recovered at this site were
transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
To identify Summers’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Summers’ name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing
from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Summers will be buried in East Wenatchee, Washington. The date
has yet to be determined.
June 9
Navy Seaman 1st Class Houston Temples,
24, of Varnado, Louisiana, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Temples 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 Temples.
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 Temples.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Temples’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces
Medical Examiner System used Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Temples’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Temples will be buried Dec. 7, 2022, in Bogalusa, Louisiana.
June 8
Navy Fireman 3rd Class Clarence A.
Blaylock, 20, of Fort Worth, Texas, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Blaylock 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 Blaylock.
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 Blaylock.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Blaylock’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Blaylock will be buried on Nov. 9, 2022, at the Punchbowl.
Navy Seaman 1st Class William Brooks, 19,
of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Brooks 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 Brooks.
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 Brooks.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Brooks’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Brooks will be buried on July 16, 2022, in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
May 26
Army Sgt. 1st Class James A. Coleman, 22, Vermillion County, IN killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In April 1951, Coleman was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion,
19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on April 25 during fighting against Chinese Communist Forces near the Hwach-on Reservoir in the modern-day Republic of Korea (ROK).
His status was changed to killed in action Oct. 3, 1952, based on eyewitness accounts from a Soldier in a neighboring foxhole.
His body was unable to be recovered due to the fighting.
Coleman’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments
Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific in Honolulu,
along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Navy Fire Controlman 3rd Class Jack A.
Breedlove, 19, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Breedlove 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 Breedlove.
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 Breedlove.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Breedlove’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Breedlove will be buried on May 31, 2022, at the Punchbowl.
Navy Seaman 1st Class William Brooks, 19, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Brooks 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 Brooks.
Brook’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pilot
May 23
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Louis V.
Girard, 20, of West, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
In the summer of 1943, Girard was assigned to the 68th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On
Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Girard was serving as the
co-pilot crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL
WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at
Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following
the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the
Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova,
Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel,
disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification.
The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and
those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle
American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated
with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were
sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination
and identification.
Girard’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Girard will be buried June 4, 2022, in his hometown.
May 23
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Michael Uhrin, 21, Middlesex County, New Jersey killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In October 1943, Uhrin was assigned to 369th Bombardment
Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 40th Combat Wing, 8th Air Force in the
European Theater.
On Oct. 14, the B-17F Flying Fortress bomber on which he was serving as the radio operator was flying a mission to Schweinfurt, Germany, when it was shot down by enemy fighters near Rommelhausen and Langenbergheim, Hessen, Germany.
Uhrin’s bomber was one of 60 aircraft to be lost during the mission.
The surviving B-17 crew members said Uhrin was killed before the plane crashed, and none witnessed him bail out.
His death was confirmed shortly after the crash, but there is no record of his burial location.
Michael Uhrin is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing Cambridge American Cemetery Cambridge, England.
May 19
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Adolph
“Leonard” Olenik, 19, of Detroit, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Olenik was assigned to the 345th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On
Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Olenik was serving as a
gunner crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL
WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at
Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following
the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the
Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova,
Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel,
disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification.
The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and
those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle
American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated
with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were
sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination
and identification.
Olenik’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Impruneta, Italy,
along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Olenik will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Virginia. The date has yet to be determined.
May 11
Navy Seaman 1st Class John R. Melton,
23, of Liberty, Mississippi, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Melton 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 Melton.
During efforts to salvage the USS West Virginia, Navy personnel
recovered the remains of the deceased crewmen, representing at least 66
individuals. Those who could not be identified, including Melton, were interred
as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the
Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
From June through October 2017, DPAA, in cooperation with
cemetery officials, disinterred 35 caskets, reported to be associated with the
USS West Virginia from the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the DPAA
laboratory.
Melton’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Melton will be buried July 9, 2022, in Gloster, Mississippi.
May 10
Army Cpl. Lawrence L. Brown, 21, of
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, killed during the Korean War, was accounted
for.
In late 1950, Brown was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 9th
Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by Chinese People’s
Volunteer Forces on Nov. 26, 1950, in the vicinity of Kujang, North Korea, when
his unit was attacked. Following the war, returning American prisoners of war
reported that Brown died at Prisoner of War Camp #5. His exact date of death
could not be confirmed, and was recorded as being March 31, 1951, the last day
he could have still been alive based on POW testimonies.
In September 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned
remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp
5, to the United Nations Command. One set of remains, Unknown X-14725, could not
be identified and was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific,
known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War
Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On Nov. 18, 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown
X-14725 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the
remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for
analysis.
Brown’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments
Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific in Honolulu,
along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Brown will be buried in Prairieville, Louisiana. The date has yet
to be determined.
May 5
Army Pvt. Walter G. Wildman, 20, of
Bristol, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Wildman was assigned to Company M, 12th
Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was part of the Hürtgen
Forest offensive when he was reported killed in action on Nov. 13. Because of
the fighting, his body was unable to be recovered.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration
Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American
personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area
between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Wildman’s remains.
He was declared non-recoverable in December 1951.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a
DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated
X-5441 Neuville, originally discovered by a German demining team and recovered
by the AGRC in 1947, possibly belonged to Wildman. The remains, which had been
buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, were disinterred in April 2019 and sent to
the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and
identification.
To identify Wildman’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 Y
chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Wildman’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Margraten, Netherlands,
along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Wildman will be buried on May 23, 2022, in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
May 4
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Newell F.
Mills, Jr., 21, of St. Petersburg, Florida, killed during World War
II, was accounted for.
In the spring of 1945, Mills was assigned to the 354th Fighter
Squadron, 355th Fighter Group. On April 7, he was piloting a P-51D Mustang
fighter on a mission escorting a formation of B-24 Liberator bombers to a target
in Geesthacht, Germany. Prior to reaching their target, the formation
encountered German fighters near Bremen. Mills and the other escort pilots
turned away from the bombers to engage the Germans. Following the mission, Mills
and his wingman never returned to base, and were never reported as a prisoner of
war. The War Department issued an administrative Finding of Death on April 8,
1946.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in
the European Theater, searched for Mills and, by 1949, believed he had been
buried as Unknown X-5904 in what is now Ardennes American Cemetery, an American
Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) site in Neuville, Belgium. Based off
circumstantial evidence, X-5904 was determined to be Mills, and his family had
him permanently buried at Ardennes.
Between 2004 and 2010, the investigation into another
unaccounted-for pilot led to the discovery that the remains buried as Mills had
been misidentified in the 1940s. This returned Mills to an unaccounted-for
status.
In 2012, German researchers were investigating a plane crash near
Bothmer, Germany, near where Mills’ wingman had been found in 1946. According to
witnesses, there was a large air battle in the area in April 1945. An American
airman parachuted into the Leine River, but was already dead from a gunshot
wound when the locals recovered him. One of the witnesses was shown a picture of
Mills and believed he was the man pulled from the river. Stefan Ilsemann, one of
the German researchers, contacted DPAA in December 2019 and suggested a link
between the two. DPAA historians investigated the case and discovered an Unknown
buried at Ardennes American Cemetery, X-632 Neuville, was the strongest
historical candidate for Mills. DPAA and ABMC disinterred X-632 in July 2021 and
transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for
analysis.
Mills’ name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes
American Cemetery, along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Mills will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,
Virginia. The date has yet to be determined.
May 2
Army Pfc. Chauncey (William) J. Sharp,
18, of Osborn, Ohio, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Sharp was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion,
27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action
on July 24 after his unit sustained heavy casualties while defending against the
North Korean army’s advance near Hwanggon, South Korea. His body was not
recovered because his unit was forced to retreat, nor were any remains found
that could be identified as Sharp. He was declared non-recoverable in January
1956.
A graves registration team from Sharp’s unit investigated the
area where he was lost on Oct. 12, 1950, and found several sets of remains,
including one later designated Unknown X-8 Taejon. However, X-8 could not be
identified despite several attempts over the next four years. The remains were
later transported with all of the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as
Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the
Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In March 2017, after extensive research into casualties from the
Hwanggon area, DPAA historians and anthropologists requested Unknown X-8 be
disinterred in order to undergo DNA analysis. X-8 was disinterred Aug. 17, 2017,
and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam,
Hawaii.
Sharp’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Sharp will be buried May 21, 2022, in Dayton, Ohio.
May 2
Army Pfc. Jack E. Lilley, 19, of
Waldworth, Ohio, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Lilley was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st
Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported
missing in action on July 20 after his unit was forced to retreat from the
vicinity of Taejon, South Korea. He was never found, nor were any remains
recovered that could be identified as Lilley. He was declared non-recoverable in
January 1956.
Seven sets of remains were recovered from a common grave a few
miles east of Taejon in March 1951. Six of the sets were able to be identified.
The lone unidentified set was designated Unknown X-769 Tanggok and were later
transported with all of the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as
Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the
Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, DPAA historians and anthropologists proposed a plan
to disinter and identify the 652 Korean War unknown burials from the Punchbowl.
X-769 was disinterred July 15, 2019, as part of Phase 2 of the Korean War
Identification Project and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base
Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
Lilley’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monument
Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who
are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Lilley will be buried June 14, 2022, in Westerville, Ohio.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Laverne A. Nigg,
23, of Browns Valley, Minnesota, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Nigg 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 Nigg.
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 Nigg.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Nigg’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Nigg will be buried on June 4, 2022, in his hometown.
Medal of Honor Pilot
April 28
In the summer of 1943, Baker was the commander of the 328th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On
Aug. 1, 1943, Baker was piloting a B-24 Liberator bomber during Operation TIDAL
WAVE, the largest World War II bombing mission against the oil fields and
refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. During its bombing run, his
plane was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed, but not before he dropped
his bombs on the target and avoided crashing into the other B-24s in his
formation. Baker’s remains were not identified following the crash. Remains that
could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the
Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel,
disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification.
The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and
those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle
American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated
with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were
sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination
and identification.
Baker’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII.
The date and location of Baker’s funeral have yet to be decided.
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. William F. Teaff, 26, Summit County, Ohio killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the spring of 1944, Teaff was assigned to the 351st
Bombardment Squadron, 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On March
6, he was the radio operator aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that was part
of a larger mission to bomb targets in Berlin.
German fighters attacked the B-17’s formation while it flew over The Netherlands, and Teaff’s plane was destroyed.
The entire crew except for the navigator, who was killed when the plane was hit, was able to bail out before the B-17 blew up in the sky.
The crew was captured by the Germans and several of them, including Teaff, were sent to Stalag Luft 6, a prisoner of war camp in Heydekrug, Germany.
Teaff was one of only three Americans who died in the POW camp.
He died July 10 in the nearby village of Matzicken, Lithuania, where he was receiving medical treatment for diptheria.
William F Teaff is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing Netherlands American Cemetery Margraten, Netherlands.
Marine
Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. William R. Ragsdale, 23, of Nashville, Tennessee killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In June 1944, Ragsdale was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st
Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which was part of the
invasion force of the island of Saipan
in a larger effort to capture the Mariana Islands from Japan.
Ragsdale was initially reported as wounded in action and evacuated from Saipan on June 28.
When he was unable to be found during the chaos surrounding the battle and its aftermath, his status was changed to missing in action and then later deceased.
Ragsdale’s remains were located after the division had moved on. He was evidently without any identification, though the Graves Registration detail noted he was wearing a gold wedding ring with the inscription “To Bill from Eloise.”
His remains were buried as Unknown X-6 in the 27th Division Cemetery, Plot 2, Row 2, Grave 441 at 1340 hours, July 6 1944.
U.S. Army Pfc. Merl W. Holm, 22, Calhoun County, Iowa killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1942, Holm was assigned to the Company K, 3rd
Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, deployed in present
day Papua New Guinea.
As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat to Port Moresby, the Allied center of communications in the area, Holm’s unit attempted to flank the enemy defensive lines stretched across the Sanananda Track in northern Papua.
Holm was reported as killed in action on Nov. 26.
Holm was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
Merl W Holm is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Navy Musician 1st Class Joseph W.
Hoffman, 24, of Chillicothe, Ohio, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Hoffman 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 Hoffman.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the
remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and
Nu’uanu Cemeteries.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen
U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves
Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the
two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at
Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the
identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS
subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In
October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as
non-recoverable, including Hoffman.
Hoffman’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Hoffman will be buried Aug. 26, 2022. The exact location has yet
to be determined.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Tceollyar Simmons, 18, of
Detroit, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Simmons was assigned to the battleship USS
California, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was
attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS California sustained multiple torpedo and
bomb hits, which caused it catch fire and slowly flood. The attack on the ship
resulted in the deaths of 104 crewmen, including Simmons.
From December 1941 to April 1942, Navy personnel recovered the
remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and
Nu’uanu Cemeteries.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen
U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves
Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the
two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at
Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the
identifications of 39 men from the USS California at that time. The AGRS
subsequently buried the unidentified remains at the National Memorial Cemetery
of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a
military board classified the 25 Unknowns who could not be identified as
non-recoverable, including Simmons.
In 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed the 25 USS California Unknowns
from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Simmons’ name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments
Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who
are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Simmons will be buried on June 14, 2022, in Hacoda, Alabama.
Army Pvt. Hillary Soileau, 23, of Bunkle,
Louisiana, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In January 1943, Soileau was a member of Company F, 2nd
Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, when American forces
went on the offensive to clear Guadalcanal of Japanese forces. Soileau was
wounded on Jan. 14 during fighting on a group of hills nicknamed Galloping
Horse. However, following the battle, he could not be found. After an extensive
search of field hospitals, aid stations, and the battlefield, Soileau was
declared missing in action on Feb. 3.
He was officially declared killed in action on Dec. 13, 1945.
On Feb. 22, 1943, two unidentified bodies from the 27th Infantry
Regiment, later designated Unknown X-50 Guadalcanal and Unknown X-52
Guadalcanal, recovered from the battlefield near the head of Galloping Horse,
were buried at the Army, Navy, and Marine Cemetery on Guadalcanal. In December
1947 and January 1948, those buried at Guadalcanal cemeteries were exhumed and
transported to Hawaii. Unknown X-50 was identified there, but X-52 was not and
was subsequently buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in
Honolulu.
After thorough historical research, it was determined that X-52
was most likely Soileau. Unknown X-52 was disinterred in April 2019 and sent to
the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
Soileau’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, along with the others
who are still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Soileau will be buried May 21, 2022, in Washington, Louisiana.
April 15
Army Cpl. Paul Mitchem, 20, of Avondale,
West Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Mitchem was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion,
34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in
action on July 7 after his unit sustained heavy casualties while defending
against the North Korean army’s advance near Ch’onan, South Korea. His body was
not recovered because his unit was forced to retreat, nor were any remains found
that could be identified as Mitchem. The Army issued a presumptive finding of
death in December 1953, and he was declared non-recoverable in January 1956.
Shortly after recapturing territory around Ch’onan, remains were
recovered in October 1950 and designated X-22 Taejon. X-22 was unable to be
identified by American Graves Registration Service and was determined
unidentifiable in August 1954. The remains were later transported with all of
the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as Unknowns at the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu,
Hawaii.
In June 2019 during Phase 2 of the Korean War Disinterment
Project, X-22 was disinterred from the Punchbowl as part of the planned
exhumation of all 53 burials originating from the United Nations Military
Cemetery Taejon, and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii for analysis.
Mitchem’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
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