“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.
USS Arizona was
a Pennsylvania-class battleship built
for and by the United
States Navy in
the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th
state's
recent admission into the union, the ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class
of "super-dreadnought"
battleships. Although commissioned in
1916, the ship remained stateside during World
War I.
Shortly after the end of the war, Arizona was
one of a number of American ships that briefly escorted President Woodrow
Wilson to
the Paris
Peace Conference.
The ship was sent to Turkey in 1919 at the beginning of the Greco-Turkish
War to
represent American interests for several months. Several years later, she was
transferred to the Pacific
Fleet and
remained there for the rest of her career.
Aside from a comprehensive modernization in 1929–31, Arizona was
regularly used for training exercises between the wars, including the annual Fleet
Problems
(training exercises). When an earthquake struck
Long Beach, California,
in 1933, Arizona's
crew provided aid to the survivors. Two years later, the ship was featured in a Jimmy
Cagney film, Here
Comes the Navy,
about the romantic troubles of a sailor. In April 1940, she and the rest of the
Pacific Fleet were transferred from California to Pearl
Harbor,
Hawaii, as a deterrent to Japanese
imperialism.
During the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor on
7 December 1941, Arizona was
bombed. After a bomb detonated in a powder magazine, the battleship exploded
violently and sank, killing 1,177 officers and crewmen. Unlike many of the other
ships sunk or damaged that day, Arizona was
irreparably damaged by the force of the magazine explosion, though the Navy
removed parts of the ship for reuse. The wreck still
lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial,
dedicated on 30 May 1962 to all those who died during the attack, straddles the
ship's hull.
A number of other boats were sunk in the attack, but later
recovered and repaired.
The USS California (BB-44)
lost 100 crew members that morning, after the ship suffered extensive flooding
damage when hit by two torpedoes on the port side.
Both torpedoes detonated below the armor belt causing virtually identical damage
each time.
A 250 kg bomb also entered the starboard upper deck level, which passed through
the main deck and exploded on the armored second deck,
setting off an anti-aircraft ammunition magazine and killing about 50 men.
After three days of flooding, the California settled
into the mud with only her superstructure remaining above the surface.
She was later re-floated and dry-docked at Pearl Harbor for repairs. USS California served
many missions throughout the war,
and was eventually decommissioned in February, 1947.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese bombs fell and
torpedoes slashed through the waters of Pearl Harbor,
causing a devastating amount of damage to the vessels lined up in Battleship Row
in in the dry docks nearby.
Each of the seven battleships moored there suffered some degree of damage, some
far worse than others.
The USS Arizona (BB-39)
and the USS Oklahoma (BB-37)
were completely destroyed. Though the Maryland (BB-46)
was believed by Japan to also have been sunk, she ultimately survived and became
one of the first ships to return to the war.
During the attack on Pearl Harbor, ships like the USS Cassin (DD-372),
a Mahan-class
destroyer, suffered what was originally thought to be fatal damage.
While she was extensively damaged during the attack, she was resurrected and
went on to return to service during the remainder of World War II.
The sunken battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48) at Pearl Harbor after her fires
were out, possibly on 8 December 1941.
USS Tennessee (BB-43) is inboard. A Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane (marked
“4-O-3”) is upside down on West Virginia’s main deck.
A second OS2U is partially burned out atop the Turret No. 3 catapult.
In the aftermath of the attacks on Pearl Harbor during World War Two stories emerged of sailors who were trapped in the sunken battleships, some even survived for weeks.
Those who were trapped underwater banged continuously on the side of the ship so
that anyone would hear them and come to their rescue.
When the noises were first heard many thought it was just loose wreckage or part
of the clean-up operation for the destroyed harbor.
However the day after the attack, crewmen realized that there was an eerie banging noise coming from the forward hull of the USS West Virginia, which had sunk in the harbor.
t didn’t take long for the crew and Marines based at the harbor to realize that
there was nothing they could do. They could not get to these trapped sailors in
time.
Months later rescue and salvage men who raised the USS West Virginia found the
bodies of three men who had found an airlock in a storeroom but had eventually
run out of air.
Survivors say that no one wanted to go on guard duty anywhere near the USS West
Virginia since they would hear the banging of trapped survivors all night long,
but with nothing that could be done.
When salvage crews raised the battleship West Virginia six months after the
Pearl Harbor attacks,
they found the bodies of three sailors huddled in an airtight storeroom —
and a calendar on which 16 days had been crossed off in
red pencil.
The USS Oklahoma was on Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. That was the morning that the Japanese Empire attacked the United States by surprise.
The Japanese
used dive–bombers, fighter–bombers, and torpedo planes to sink nine ships,
including five battleships, and severely damage 21 ships.
There were 2,402 US deaths from the attack. 1,177 of
those deaths were from the USS Arizona,
while 429 of the deaths were from the USS Oklahoma.
The crew of the USS Oklahoma did everything they could to fight back. In the first ten minutes of the battle, though, eight torpedoes hit the Oklahoma, and she began to capsize. A ninth torpedo would hit her as she sunk in the mud. 14 Marines, and 415 sailors would give their lives. 32 men were cut out through the hull while the others were beneath the waterline. Banging could be heard for over 3 days and then there was silence.
After the battle, the Navy decided that they could not salvage the Oklahoma due to how much damage she had received. The difficult savage job began in March 1943, and Oklahoma entered dry dock 28 December. Decommissioning September 1, 1944, Oklahoma was stripped of guns and superstructure, and sold December 5, 1946 to Moore Drydock Co., Oakland, Calif. Oklahoma parted her tow line and sank May 17, 1947. 540 miles out, bound from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco. Today, there is a memorial to the USS Oklahoma and the 429 sailors and marines lost on December 7, 1941, located on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The minelayer Oglala technically
didn't suffer a hit on December 7, but a torpedo passed under it and hit the USS
Helena.
The blast from that crippled the old Oglala which
had been built as a civilian vessel in 1906.
The crewmembers took their guns to the Navy Yard Dock and set them up to provide
more defenses.
They also set up a first aid station that saved the lives of West Virginia
crewmembers.
The ship suffered horribly, eventually capsizing and sinking
until just a few feet of the ship's starboard side remained above water.
It was declared lost, and the Navy even considered blowing it up with dynamite
to clear the dock it had sunk next to.
But the decision was made that it could destroy the dock, so the Navy had to
refloat it. At that point, it made sense to dry dock and repair it.
None of the crew of Oglala were killed in the attack, although three received injuries.
Sean Patterson, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System Department
of Defense DNA Quality Management Section DNA Analyst,
replaces U. S. Navy Fireman 1st Class Billy James Johnson's picture background,
signifying him as an identified service member who was previously missing in
action.
Johnson marks the 200th service member to be identified following the December
7, 1941 Pearl Harbor
attack where 429 U.S. Sailors and Marines were killed on the USS Oklahoma
(BB-37).
A
series of large posters hang in the conference room of the Defense POW/MIA
Accounting Agency laboratory located at Offutt Air Base, Nebraska.
The heading on each of the posters states “USS OKLAHOMA.” Underneath the
headings are neat rows of printed rectangular frames.
Each one represents a person who was unaccounted for when the USS Oklahoma was
sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Thanks
to the work of Dr. Brown’s team, the remains of 200 previously unknown crewmen
from the USS Oklahoma
have now been returned to their families for proper burial and their families
have those long-awaited answers.
The story of the USS Oklahoma’s lost crewmen is
an evolving history lesson that began on what
President Franklin D. Roosevelt called
“a date that will live in infamy.”
LIST OF USS OKLAHOMA IDENTIFICATIONS FROM MICHIGAN:
(Please note that in some USS Oklahoma identifications,
the primary next of kin has yet to be notified,
and therefore the names will not be released at this time.)
*Ensign William M. Finnegan, 44, of Bessmer, Mich.
*Seaman 1st Class Robert W. Headington, 19, of Bay City, Michigan
*Machinist's Mate 1st Class Fred M. Jones, 31, of North Lake, Michigan
*Fireman 3rd Class Gerald G. Lehman, 18, of Hancock, Michigan
*Fireman 2nd Class Lowell E. Valley, 19, of Ontonagon, Michigan
It is through this effort that the accounting community
has been able to honor the sacrifices of the USS Oklahoma Sailors and Marines
and their families who pushed for the fullest possible accounting of their loved
ones.
Ford Island
is seen in this aerial view during the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor December
7, 1941 in Hawaii.
(The photo was taken from a Japanese plane.)
Remember
the fallen: In all, 429 people on board the
battleship were killed in the attack.
Only 35 were identified in the years immediately after.
Battleship
USS Oklahoma unturned hull at the bottom of Pearl Harbor
after the devastating Japanese bombing attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
Breakdown by War - Still Unaccounted for/Unreturned Veterans:
WW II 72,579
Korea 7,578
Vietnam 1,586
Cold War 126
Gulf/Other 6
Total 81,775
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
WWII
from MICHIGAN - 2456
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Korea
from MICHIGAN - 334
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Cold War
from MICHIGAN - 4
Service Personnel Not Recovered Following
Viet Nam
from MICHIGAN - 48
RECENTLY
FOUND
HEROES in 2021
Navy Radioman 3rd Class Theodore Q.
Jensen, 22, of Delta, Utah, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Jensen 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 Jensen.
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 Jensen.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Jensen’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces
Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Jensen’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Jensen will be buried on June 2, 2021, in his
hometown
Navy Ship’s Cook 3rd Class Robert
Goodwin, 20, of Wichita, Kansas, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Goodwin 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 Goodwin.
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 Goodwin.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Goodwin’s remains, scientists from DPAA dental and
anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Goodwin’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.
Goodwin will be buried on May 14, 2021, in
Topeka, Kansas.
Navy Patternmaker 1st Class Stanislaw F. Drwall, 25, Tucker County, West Virginia killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Drwall 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 Drwall.
His younger brother Walter Casimir Drwall would go on to join the Navy and was killed in action during the sinking of the SS Coamo a year later on December 2, 1942.
Stanislaw Frank Drwall is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
April 12
Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J.
Valentine, 22, of Cassville, Wisconsin, killed during the Korean War,
was accounted for.
In late 1950, Valentine was a member of Battery B, 57th Field
Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on
Dec. 6, 1950, after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to
withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his
remains could not be recovered.
North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North
Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service
members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into
the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Valentine’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who
are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Valentine will be buried in his hometown in May 2021.
Navy Radioman 3rd Class Charles A. Montgomery, 21, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Montgomery 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 Montgomery.
Charles Andrew Montgomery is buried or memorialized at Courts of the Missing, Court 1 Honolulu Memorial National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Honolulu, Hawaii.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Howard S. Magers,
18, of Merry Oaks, Kentucky, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Magers 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 Magers.
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 Magers.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Magers’ 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.
Magers will be buried on May 29, 2021,
Navy Mess Attendant 1st Class Octavius Mabine, 21, Portsmouth County, Virginia killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Mabine 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 Mabine.
Octavius Mabine is buried or memorialized at
Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Navy Fireman 1st Class Neal K. Todd, 22, Hubbard County, Minnesota killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Todd 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 Todd.
Neal Kenneth Todd is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
April
1
Army Pfc. Raymond A. Smith, 18, Brooklyn, New York killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Smith was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion,
32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
March 30
Navy Water Tender 1st Class Milo E. Phillips, 26, Weld County, Colorado killed during World War II, was accounted for.
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 Phillips.
Phillips
March 24
Navy Signalman 1st Class Eugene M. Skaggs, 33,
Signalman First Class Eugene Mitchell Skaggs was born February
11, 1909, to coal miner Grover Cleveland Skaggs and his wife Minnie Mae Wood
Skaggs in the town of Ansted,
located in central West Virginia.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Skaggs 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 Skaggs.
Eugene memorial was placed in Restlawn Memory Gardens in Ansted,
March 24
Navy Seaman 1st Class Elmer P. Lawrence, 25, of Barren County, Kentucky, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Lawrence 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 Lawrence.
March 24
Navy Seaman 1st Class Wilbur F. Ballance, 20, Paw Paw, Michigan killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Ballance 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 Ballance.
Ballance
March 24
Navy Fireman 1st Class Harold E. Bates, 27, Rush Center, KS killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Bates 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 Bates
March 22
Marine Corps Pfc. John F. Middleswart, 19, San Diego, Ca. was killed during World War II, was accounted for.
After boot camp in San Diego, Middleswart was sent to Sea School and then to the Marine detachment aboard the USS Oklahoma.
Marine Pfc. John F. Middleswart was the milestone identification
for an effort that began 18 years earlier in 2003, but has seen the majority of
its work in the past five and a half years with the USS Oklahoma Project.
“When his identification came through, it was really exciting
because I knew this was
number 300,”
said Carrie LeGarde, the USS Oklahoma Project lead. “It shows everyone’s hard
work and I knew everyone would be really excited about it, because this is a
really huge milestone for the project.”
On Dec. 7, 1941, Middleswart 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 Middleswart.
March 22
Navy Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class George L. Paradis, 23, Fort Benton, Montana killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Paradis 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 Paradis.
Soldier
March 22
Army Pvt. Lyle W. Reab, 22, of Phillips, Nebraska, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Reab
was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry
Division. He was reported missing in action as of Nov. 9,
after his unit engaged German forces at Vossenack, Germany, in the Hürtgen
Forest. His body was not recovered.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. Several AGRC investigation teams searched for and recovered remains in the Hürtgen Forest following World War II, but none were identified as Reab. He was declared non-recoverable in December 1950.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Vossenack area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-7388 Neuville, recovered from a foxhole on the southeastern end of town in March 1948 possibly belonged to Reab. The remains, which had been buried as an unknown soldier in Ardennes American Cemetery in 1949, were disinterred in June 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.
Reab’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.
Reab will be buried June 8, 2021, in Aurora, Nebraska.
March 18
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Jack E. Hill, 21, Casper, WY. was killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1943, Hill was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion,
6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed
against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio
in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island.
Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated.
Hill died on the third day of battle, Nov. 22, 1943.
He was reported to have been buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery, later renamed Cemetery 33.
March 18
Navy Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Everett R. Stewart, 22, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Stewart 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 Stewart.
Stewart's remains were USS Oklahoma that have been buried in mass graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
March 17
Navy Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Leslie P. Delles, 21, Reinbeck, Iowa killed during World War II, was accounted for.
He was one of five children, one of the twin sons of Michael
Phillip Delles and Ida Mae Peterson. Delles was 21 years of age when killed.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Delles 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 Delles.
March
17
Army Cpl. Walter A. Smead, 24, Saratoga County, New York killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Smead was a member of Battery A, 57th Field
Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950, after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
Walter is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
Walter Alvin Smead is buried or memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
March 16
Navy Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Shelby
Treadway, 25, of Manchester, Kentucky, killed during World War II,
was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Treadway 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 Treadway.
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 Treadway.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Treadway’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.
Treadway will be buried on June 2, 2021, at the Punchbowl.
March 16
Navy Fireman 1st Class Denis H. Hiskett, 20, Pocasset Grady County Oklahoma killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Hiskett 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 Hiskett.
Hiskett
March 16
Navy Fireman 2nd Class Carl M. Bradley, 19, Shelley Bingham County Idaho killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Bradley 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 Bradley.
Bradley
March 15
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Alfred
F. Turgeon, 23, of Ketchikan, Alaska, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Turgeon was a pilot assigned to the 344th
Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1,
1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Turgeon was serving as a radio
operator 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.
Turgeon’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.
Turgeon will be buried in Shoreline, Washington.
The date has yet to be determined.
March 15
Navy Seaman 1st Class Gerald J. Bailey,
24, of Seattle, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Bailey 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 Bailey.
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 Bailey.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Bailey’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.
Bailey will be buried on June 29, 2021, in Kent,
Washington.
March 10
Navy Signalman 3rd Class Austin H. Hesler, 21, Phillips County, Kansas killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Hesler 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. he attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Hesler.
Hesler is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
March 10
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Michael Malek, 17, Cook County, Illinois killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Malek was assigned to the battleship USS
Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was
attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize.
The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Malek.
Malek is buried or memorialized at Court 1 Honolulu Memorial National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Honolulu, Hawaii.
March
5
Army Chaplain (Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun, of Pilsen, Kansas, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for.
Kapaun was a Roman Catholic priest and United States Army captain who served as a United States Army chaplain during World War II and the Korean War. Kapaun was a chaplain in the Burma Theater of World War II, then served again as a chaplain with the U.S. Army in Korea, where he was captured. He died in a prisoner of war camp.
Weakened as the months passed, he managed to lead Easter sunrise
service on Sunday, March 25, 1951.
After serving in World War II, Kapaun returned to active duty in
the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry
Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division.
He was captured while tending to wounded Soldiers on Nov. 2, 1950, near Unsan, North Korea. Using information provided by returned POWs after the war, it was determined that Kapaun had been a POW in Camp 5 where he continued in minister to other POWs until he died of pneumonia on May 23, 1951.
US Army Chaplain Emil Kapaun
Advancing Toward Sainthood, Kapaun's
spiritual heroism was also noted by those he served.
A
preliminary evaluation of his sanctity, or "cause" for canonization,
was accepted
by Pope John Paul II in 1993,
and he was proclaimed "Servant of God."
It is
not unusual for decades to pass before this approval;
in fact, a mandatory
five-year waiting period has
become a first step in the formal process of becoming a saint.
His remains were reportedly buried in a cemetery near the camp and were not recovered during the war.
Kapaun was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Unsan, and is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic church.
March
4
Army Master Sgt. James Hart, Jr., 25, of
Hopkins, Texas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Hart was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 32nd
Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on
Dec. 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin
Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be
recovered.
North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the
remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains
arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were
subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Hart’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Hart’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who
are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Hart will be buried June 8, 2021, in Winterfield, Texas.
March 3
Army Pfc. Juan F. Gutierrez, 26, Del Norte, Rio Grande County, Colorado who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for.
In late 1941, Gutierrez was a member of 200th Coast Artillery
Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December.
Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Captured by the Japanese after the surrender of American forces on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines in the spring of 1942, Gutierrez died the following November in a prisoner-of-war camp at Cabanatuan.
March
Army Cpl. Ralph S. Boughman, 21, of
Union, South Carolina, killed during the Korean War, was accounted
for.
In late 1950, Boughman was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion,
32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action
on Dec. 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin
Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be
recovered.
North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the
remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains
arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were
subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Boughman’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally,
scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) analysis.
Boughman’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who
are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Boughman will be buried May 15, 2021, in his
hometown.
March
Army Cpl. David B. Milano, 17, of
Chicago, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Milano was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion,
32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action
on Dec. 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin
Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be
recovered.
North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the
remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains
arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were
subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Milano’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally,
scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Milano’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who
are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Milano will be buried in Ogden, Utah. The date
has yet to be determined.
Navy Bandmaster James B. Booe, 42, of
Veedersburg, Indiana, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Booe 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 Booe.
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 Booe.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Booe’s 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.
Booe’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.
Booe will be buried on June 1, 2021, at the
Punchbowl.
