“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 - 2449
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
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.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
Mitchem will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Virginia.
The date has yet to be determined.
Navy Seaman 1st Class David F. Tidball,
20, of Independence, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Tidball 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 Tidball.
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 Tidball.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Tidball’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.
Tidball will be buried on May 14, 2022, in his hometown.
Navy Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Everett
R. Stewart, 22, of Anderson, California, 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.
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 Stewart.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Stewart’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.
Stewart will be buried on June 18, 2022, at the NMCP.
Navy Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E.
Nichols, 21, of Sioux City, Iowa, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Nichols 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 Nichols.
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 Nichols.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Nichols’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.
Nichols will be buried May 13, 2022, in his hometown.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Walter R.
Pentico, 17, of
Lexington, Nebraska, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Pentico 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 Pentico.
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 Pentico.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Pentico’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.
Pentico will be buried on April 29, 2022, at the Punchbowl.
April 4
U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Elvin L. Phillips, 23, Salt Lake County, Utah killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Phillips was assigned to the 66th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force.
On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Phillips
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.
March 31
Army Pfc. William L. Groh, Jr., 22, of
Tiffin, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Groh was assigned to Company F, 12th Infantry
Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was part of the Hürtgen Forest
offensive, near Hürtgen, Germany, when he was reported wounded in action on Nov.
13. This was also the last day his unit saw him.
German forces never listed him as a prisoner of war. The War
Department issued a presumptive finding of death on Nov. 14, 1945.
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 Groh’s remains. He
was declared non-recoverable in September 1951.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a
DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated
X-5437 Neuville, originally discovered by a German forester and recovered by the
AGRC in 1947, possibly belonged to Groh. 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.
Groh’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle
American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Hombourg,
Belgium,
along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Groh will be buried in Phoenix, Arizona. The date has yet to be
determined.
March 30
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Louis V. Girard, 20, McLennan County, 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 a 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.
March 29
Navy Seaman 1st Class Wilbur F. Newton,
29, of San Leandro, California, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Newton 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 Newton.
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 Newton.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Newton’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.
Newton will be buried May 28, 2022, in Mound City, Missouri.
March 29
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gerald R. Helms,
29, of Chicago, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the fall of 1944, Helms was assigned to Company E, 325th
Glider Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. He was reported missing in
action near Katerbosch, Netherlands, during Operation MARKET GARDEN after he
failed to return from a lone scouting mission Oct. 2. His body was never found
by his unit, and there was no evidence he had ever been captured. A presumptive
finding of death was issued Oct. 3, 1945.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC),
the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel,
conducted several searches of the area, but by 1950, none of the remains found
around Katerbosch could be identified as Helms. He was declared non-recoverable
in October 1950.
In 2015, DPAA historians began working on a comprehensive
research and recovery project focused on those missing from Operation MARKET
GARDEN, but none of the disinterred remains could be identified as Helms.
However, in October 2019, a Dutch citizen digging a trench in the front yard of
a home in Katerbosch came upon human remains and military artifacts. The Royal
Netherlands Army’s Recovery and Identification Unit (RIU) excavated the site on
Oct. 30. They conducted a full anthropological analysis of the remains and
historical analysis of the material items, including Helms’ identification tags,
and recovery location. The RIU concluded the remains belonged to Helms. These
remains and evidence were then transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air
Force Base, Nebraska, for further examination and identification.
Helms’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Margarten, Netherlands,
along with others still missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Helms will be buried in Elwood, Illinois. The date has yet to be
determined.
March 29
Navy Fire Controlman 2nd Class George
Gilbert, 20, of Indianapolis, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Gilbert 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 Gilbert.
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 Gilbert.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Gilbert’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces
Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Gilbert’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.
Gilbert will be buried June 6, 2022, at the Punchbowl.
March 29
U.S. Army Pfc. Sanford K. Bowen, 26, Ashland County, 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.
No one wanted to surrender to the SS after the news of the
Malmedy Massacre in the Ardennes had spread. But in the end only two men reached
Allied lines.
Casualties for the month were 32 KIA, 24WIA, 472 MIA and 70 known prisoners.
Bowen was among those killed, but his body could not be recovered because of the fighting.
Sanford K Bowen is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France.
March 24
Army Cpl. Donald L. Menken, 21, of
Whitesburg, Kentucky, killed during the Korean War, was accounted
for.
In June 1953, Menken was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion,
15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action
after being wounded by artillery shell fragments on June 10 while his unit was
guarding Outpost Harry, a position on the main road to Seoul in what is now the
Demilitarized Zone. He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that
could be identified as Menken. He was declared killed in action on June 11,
1954, and non-recoverable in January 1956.
The American Graves Registration Service Group (AGRSG) was tasked
with recovering and identifying remains from the Korean War. The AGRSG went to
Outpost Harry to supervise evacuation of the dead. During this time, they did
not find any remains that could be identified as Menken. He was also not among
the POWs returned during Operation BIG SWITCH in the late summer of 1953 nor
among the remains identified from those returned during Operation GLORY in the
fall of 1954. However, the AGRSG did find a set of remains that were designated
as Unknown X-6039 after they could not be identified. X-6039 was later
transported with all unidentified Korean War remains and buried as Unknown 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-6039 was disinterred Jan. 28, 2019, as part of Phase 1 of the Korean War
Identification Project and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base
Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
Menken’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.
Menken will be buried May 14, 2022, in Ermine, Kentucky.
Soldier
March 24
U.S. Army Pvt. Pearl F. Barrow, 36, of
Wichita, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Barrow was assigned to Company F, 12th Infantry
Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle with German
forces near Hürtgen, Germany, when he was reported as killed in action on Nov.
20. 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 Barrow’s remains.
He was declared non-recoverable in December 1951.
In 2017, while studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen
area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains found in
1948 possibly belonged to Barrow. A business card with “Guaranteed Roofing Co.,
832 Indiana” had been found with the remains. While Barrow was not from Indiana,
the address listed for his wife in his Report of Death was 832 Indiana, Wichita,
Kansas. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery in
1950, were disinterred in August 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt
Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.
Barrow’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.
Barrow will be buried in his hometown. The date has yet to be
determined.
March 22
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Eugene P.
Shauvin, 25, of Spokane, Washington, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In the early fall of 1944, Shauvin was assigned to the 95th Troop
Carrier Squadron, 440th Troop Carrier Group. On Sept. 17, Shauvin was piloting a
C-47 Skytrain aircraft that was shot down over Belgium, en route to the
Netherlands to drop 11 Pathfinder paratroopers ahead of Operation Market Garden.
Several Belgian witnesses saw the plane crash near the villages of Retie and
Kortijnen. Only six paratroopers successfully bailed out. The four-person crew,
including Shauvin, and the other five paratroopers died in the crash.
A few days after the crash, several area residents recovered
eight bodies from the crash site and buried them in a nearby common grave.
German forces left the area on Sept. 23, and on Sept. 25, the Belgian Red Cross
exhumed the remains from the common grave and reinterred them in the Retie
village cemetery. In June 1945, the Army’s 3049th Quartermaster Graves
Registration Company disinterred 22 sets of American remains associated with
numerous air losses from the Retie cemetery and transported them to the U.S.
Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, for processing. By October
1951, everyone from Shauvin’s aircraft had been identified and accounted for
except for Shauvin. He was declared non-recoverable on Oct. 29.
In 1999, Shauvin’s daughter, Linda, contacted the
U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI), a DPAA predecessor,
with evidence that her father’s remains might still be found at the crash site.
CILHI sent an investigation team in 2002, and the next year, the newly formed
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), also a DPAA predecessor, sent a
recovery team. The team located the cockpit, but didn’t find Shauvin, and so
recommended no further excavation.
In 2016, Linda Chauvin requested DPAA reconsider the decision not
to excavate further. After assessing the 2003 reports, it was determined there
was sufficient evidence to support additional excavation work at the site. It
took until 2019 to complete a complex series of negotiations with host-nation
authorities, to gain access, permits, and mitigate environmental challenges at
the site, before COVID-19 delayed the excavation further. Bolstered by
unwavering support from Shauvin's family, Belgian authorities, and the
landowners and local community at Retie, a DPAA recovery team fully excavated
the site in April and May 2021, and found human remains and possible life
support equipment.
Shauvin’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission 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.
Shauvin will be buried July 2022 in his hometown.
March 21
Navy Water Tender 1st Class Milo E.
Phillips, 26, of Pierce, Colorado, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Phillips 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 Phillips.
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 Phillips.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Phillips’ 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.
Phillips will be buried on Aug. 4, 2022, at the Punchbowl.
March 21
Navy Coxswain Paul L. Boemer, 21, of St.
Louis, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Boemer 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 Boemer.
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 Boemer.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Boemer’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.
Boemer will be buried May 3, 2022, in his hometown.
Airman
March 11
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Richard
G. Salsbury, 19, of Canaan, Maine, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In the summer of 1943, Salsbury 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 Salsbury 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.
Salsbury’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.
Salsbury will be buried in his hometown. The date has yet to be
determined.
March 11
Army Staff Sgt. Grady H. Canup, 30, of
Greenwood, South Carolina, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
In November 1944, Canup was assigned to Company C, 12th Infantry
Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was part of the Hürtgen Forest
offensive when he was reported killed in action on Nov. 14 when enemy artillery
fire hit near his foxhole. 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 Canup’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-5450 Neuville, originally discovered by a German forester and recovered by the
AGRC in 1947, possibly belonged to Canup. 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.
Meanwhile, in 2019, Canup’s identification tag was found in the
Hürtgen Forest in the general location of where DPAA historians believed he was
lost and near where X-5450 was recovered.
Canup’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.
Canup will be buried April 10, 2022, in Anderson, South Carolina.
March 10
Army Pvt. Edward M. Ryan, 33, of New
York City, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In July 1944, Ryan was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st
Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division, which occupied
defensive positions along the northwest coast of Saipan as part of a larger
operation to secure the Mariana Islands. On the morning of July 7, the
commanding general of the Japanese forces ordered a mass suicide charge of his
remaining soldiers into the 105th’s line. Ryan was killed sometime during the
attack. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.
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 Ryan. He was declared non-recoverable in
1949.
Remains identified as Unknown X-22 27th Infantry Division
Cemetery were recovered 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-22
could likely be identified. On Jan. 23, 2019, Unknown X-22 was disinterred and
sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for
analysis.
Ryan’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who
are still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Ryan will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,
Virginia. The date has yet to be determined.
Airman
March 10
Army Air Forces Pfc. Edward H. Benson,
Jr., 22, of Roanoke, Virginia, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In March 1945, Benson was assigned to the 1562nd Army Air Force
Base Unit on Biak Island, part of the modern-day Republic of Indonesia. He and
39 other service members were killed during a Japanese air raid Sorido Airstrip
on March 22. Of those 40, three, including Benson, could not be identified or
accounted for after the attack.
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. Army and Army Air Force cemeteries in
Southeast Asia and the South Pacific were consolidated in a large cemetery
complex in Finschhafen in modern-day Papua New Guinea.
The attempt to identify and account for Benson was intertwined
with similar attempts identify and account for three other service members
killed in the Sorido air raid. After several examinations, misidentifications,
burials, exhumations, and re-examinations between 1945 and 1953, the other three
men were conclusively identified, but one set of remains, designated X-188
Finschhafen #3, couldn’t be positively identified. X-188 was buried at Fort
William McKinley Cemetery, now known as Manila American Cemetery and Memorial,
in the Philippines, and Benson was declared non-recoverable.
In May 2003, Benson’s son, Dr. James H. Benson, reached out to
the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), a DPAA predecessor, requesting
another assessment of association between his father and X-188. Later that year,
he also submitted a thorough, detailed research report by retired Air Force Col.
Jack O. Forgy about the complexities of the case. Disinterment was not a common
practice for JPAC, despite many attempts by Benson’s son to move the case
forward over the years. Shortly after DPAA was formed in 2015, Benson’s son
reached out in another attempt to move the case forward. X-188 was disinterred
in January 2020 and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam,
Hawaii, for analysis.
Benson’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila
American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in
Manila, Philippines, 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.
Benson will be buried May 14, 2022, in his hometown.
March 9
Navy Water Tender 1st Class Oliver K.
Burger, 26, of San Pedro, California, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Burger 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 Burger.
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 Burger.
Burger’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.
Burger will be buried Aug. 31, 2022, at the NMCP.
Soldier
March 7
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Casimir P. Lobacz, 25, Kenosha County, 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.
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in Lorraine, France.
Wall of the Missing ~ Army-Army Air Forces.
Navy Chief Water Tender Claude White,
40, of Yorkville, Tennessee, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, White 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 White.
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 White.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
White’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.
White will be buried on April 19, 2022, in Dyer, Tennessee.
Army Cpl. William M. Zoellick, 18, Cook County, Illinois killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Zoellick was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion,
9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, after his company encountered a Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) roadblock near Kunu-ri, North Korea.
In August 1953, a CPVF report provided to the United Nations Command stated Zoellick died on Feb. 27, 1951, at Prisoner of War Camp #1.
William M Zoellick is buried or memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
William is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
Army Sgt. Roy C. Delauter, 21, of
Smithsburg, Maryland, killed during the Korean War, was accounted
for.
In late 1950, Delauter was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion,
32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action
on Dec. 1, 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.
On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald
Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea
turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service
members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into
the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Delauter’s remains, scientists from DPAA used
anthropological and isotope analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Delauter’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.
even though her family placed a marker to memorialize Roy DeLauter in their
parent's burial plot at Cedar Lawn Cemetery.
Delauter will be buried April 22, 2022, in his hometown.
Navy Seaman 1st Class James R. Ward, 20, Springfield, Ohio killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Ward 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.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. John J.
Heffernan, Jr., 24, of Brooklyn, New York, killed during World War
II, was accounted for.
In February 1944, Heffernan was a member of the 490th Bomb
Squadron, 341st Bomb Group, 10th Air Force. On Feb. 22, he was serving as the
navigator of a B-25G Mitchell bomber while on a bombing mission from Kurmitola,
India, to railroads south of Monywa, Burma. Before reaching the target, Ryan’s
plane burst into flames and crashed near Letpadaung. Local villagers told
investigators at the time that the Japanese confiscated all personal items from
the crash and told them to bury the bodies.
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. Despite several attempts, AGRS was unable to
locate or identify Heffernan. He was declared non-recoverable on Feb. 8, 1948.
In August 2017, DPAA partner R.M. Asia Group conducted an
investigation mission in Letpadaung, followed by a DPAA Investigation Team in
March 2018. The teams found enough evidence of the crash for DPAA to send two
recovery teams, the first from January to March 2019 and the second from January
to March 2020. The recovery teams found possible human remains and material
evidence at the site, which was accessioned into the DPAA laboratory at Joint
Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
Heffernan’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission
site in the Philippines,
along with the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he
has been accounted for.
DPAA is grateful to R.M. Asia Group for their partnership in this
mission.
Heffernan will be buried in Middle Village, New York. The date
has yet to be determined.
Army 1st Lt. Myles W. Esmay, 21, of
Utica, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the spring and summer of 1944, Esmay, an infantry engineer,
was a member of Company B, 236th Engineer Combat Battalion, reinforcing the
5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), also known as Merrill’s Marauders. Esmay’s
battalion arrived at the recently captured airfield in Myitkyina, Burma, on May
28, where they were tasked with holding the airfield and taking part in the
siege of Myitkyina.
On June 4, the battalion attacked Japanese forces at Namkwi
village northwest of the airfield. The fighting lasted until June 7. Esmay was
reported to have been killed on the last day of fighting.
The remains of servicemen killed during the battle were buried in
at least eight different temporary cemeteries and numerous isolated burial
locations. Eventually, all known burials were concentrated into the U.S.
Military Cemetery at Myitkyina, including the remains of those who were not
identified. In January and February 1946, all of the remains at the U.S.
Military Cemetery were disinterred and transferred to the U.S. Military Cemetery
at Kalaikunda, India. The exhumation of the U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda
was conducted in September and October 1947.
One set of remains, designated Unknown X-64 Kalaikunda, was
unable to be identified and was subsequently buried in the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, in March 1949.
On April 15, 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-64 Kalaikunda from
the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base
Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
Esmay’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City, Philippines, along with
the others missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Esmay will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,
Virginia. The date has yet to be determined.
Army Pfc. Kenneth L. Bridger,
17, of Colville, Washington,
killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Bridger was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion,
31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action
on Nov. 30, 1950, on the last night of his unit’s stand at the defensive
perimeter south of the Pungnyuri Inlet on the east side of 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.
Bridger’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.
Bridger will be buried in Twin Falls, Idaho, on May 21, 2022.
Army Cpl. Francis J. Jury, 23, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Jury was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 32nd
Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, during battle with enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered, and there is no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war.
Army Cpl. Lawrence L. Brown, 21, 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.
Navy Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Harvey
C. Herber, 34, of Tacoma, Washington, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Herber 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 Herber.
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 Herber.
Herber’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.
Herber's funeral date and location have not yet been decided.
Navy Fireman 1st Class George F. Price,
23, of Dallas City, Illinois, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Price 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 Price.
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 Price.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Price’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.
Price will be buried May 4, 2022, in his hometown.
Navy Storekeeper 1st Class Harry E.
Walker, 36, of San Diego, killed during World War II, was accounted
for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Walker 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 Walker.
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 Walker.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Walker’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental
and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces
Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Walker’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the
Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Walker will be buried on March 15, 2022, in Verdes, California.
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Richard W.
Horrigan, 24, of Chester, West Virginia, killed during World War II,
was accounted for.
In April 1945, Horrigan was a pilot with the 22nd Fighter
Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force, serving in Germany. He was a part
of an armed reconnaissance mission to the Alt Lönnewitz Airfield on April 19,
piloting a P-47D Thunderbolt fighter. He crashed while strafing enemy planes
parked at the airfield, likely due to anti-aircraft fire. Horrigan’s wingman
witnessed the crash, but because the airfield was behind enemy lines, Horrigan
could not be recovered. Once sufficient evidence became available that he had
not survived, a Report of Death for Horrigan was issued in November 1945.
The American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was charged with
recovering the remains of fallen service members in the European Theater
following the war. Because Alt Lönnewitz Airfield was under strict control of
Soviet forces, they could not investigate Horrigan’s crash. A German national
was able to investigate on behalf of the AGRC in 1953, confirming through an
eyewitness human remains had been seen at the crash. However, they were never
recovered and buried. Because the AGRC was not allowed to investigate the site,
Horrigan was declared non-recoverable in October 1953.
In 2004, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a DPAA
predecessor, in conjunction with third-party researchers, investigated the site.
It was approved for excavation in 2006. However, important site and logistical
information was missing, and a recovery team was not sent out.
In March 2017, a DPAA investigation team returned to the site and
located what they believed was Horrigan’s aircraft. In June 2019, DPAA
contracted History Flight, Inc., a nonprofit organization, to excavate the site.
They recovered material evidence and possible remains that were initially
transferred to the police in Herzberg, Germany, before being sent to the DPAA
Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis in August 2019.
Horrigan’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site
in Hombourg, Belgium,
along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Horrigan will be buried in his hometown. The date has yet to be
determined.
Army Pvt. Walter G. Wildman, 20, Bucks County, 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.
Walter G Wildman is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing Netherlands American Cemetery Margraten, Netherlands.
Airman
Army Air Forces Pfc. Edward H. Benson, Jr., 22, Roanoke City, Virginia killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In March 1945, Benson was assigned to the 1562nd Army Air Force
Base Unit on Biak Island, part of the modern-day Republic of Indonesia.
He and 39 other service members were killed during a Japanese air raid Sorido Airstrip on March 22.
Of those 40, three, including Benson, could not be identified or accounted for after the attack.
Edward H Benson is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Army Pfc. Kenneth L. Bridger, 17, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Bridger was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion,
31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, on the last night of his unit’s stand at the defensive perimeter south of the Pungnyuri Inlet on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
U.S. Army Pfc. William B. Coleman, 21, Alabama killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In the latter half of 1944, Coleman was assigned to Company F,
2nd Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division.
In late September, Coleman’s unit had gained a foothold in the Forest of
Grèmecey near Nancy, France.
On Nov. 1, a week before the 35th Infantry Division continued its advance towards Germany, Coleman was attempting to remove a booby-trap mine when it exploded, killing him and severely wounding two Soldiers who were with him.
His unit searched for his remains, but could not find him and believed his body had been completely destroyed in the blast.
The Army Quartermaster Corps also searched for him in June 1945, but found nothing.
Coleman was declared non-recoverable in July 1947.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Adolph Olenik, 19, Lake County, Indiana 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.
Adolph Olenik is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
Army Pfc. Bill Morrison, 29, of
Birmingham, Alabama, killed during World War II, was accounted for.
In November 1944, Morrison was assigned to Company G, 2nd
Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged
in battle with German forces in the Raffelsbrand sector of the Hürtgen Forest in
Germany, when he was reported killed in action on Nov. 8. His body was not able
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 Morrison’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-4470 Neuville, originally discovered by a German civilian and recovered by the
AGRC in 1946, possibly belonged to Morrison. The remains, which had been buried
in Ardennes American Cemetery in 1950, were disinterred in April 2019 and sent
to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.
Morrison’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site
in Hombourg, Belgium,
along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Morrison will be buried in Spanish Fort, Alabama. The date has
yet to be decided.
Navy Shipfitter 1st Class Charles F.
Perdue, 32, of Salisbury, Maryland, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Perdue 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 Perdue.
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 Perdue.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Perdue’s 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.
Perdue will be buried on May 16, 2022, in Lancaster, California.
U.S. Naval Reserve Cmdr. Paul C.
Charvet, 26, of Grandview, Washington, killed during the Vietnam War,
was accounted for.
On March 21, 1967, Charvet was the pilot of an A-1H Skyraider
airplane assigned to Attack Squadron 215 aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard.
During a mission near Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, his plane disappeared in an
area of low cloud cover and fog a kilometer northeast of Hon Me Island. His
remains were not recovered after a search of the area. On March 22, Radio Hanoi
Broadcast reported an American aircraft was shot down the day before off the
coast of Thanh Hoa Province. Charvet’s plane was the only U.S. aircraft loss in
that area March 21. Charvet was considered missing in action until Dec. 2, 1977
when his status was changed to “Presumed Killed in Action.”
On Sept. 24, 2020, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam turned over
presumed human remains and material evidence to the U.S. Additional material
evidence was turned over Oct. 15, 2020. The remains and evidence were turned
over to DPAA’s laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
Charvet’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans
Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s
Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in
Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been
accounted for.
Charvet’s funeral date and location has not yet been decided.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Biacio Casola, 26,
of The Bronx, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for
on July 26, 2021.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Casola 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 Casola.
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 Casola.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Casola’s name is recorded in 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.
Casola will be buried April 20, 2022, at the Punchbowl.
Army Cpl. R.B. Cherry, 19, of Dallas,
who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted
for.
In late 1950, Cherry was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion,
24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in
action on Nov. 27, 1950, near Anju, North Korea.
Using information provided by
returned POWs after the war, it was determined that Cherry had been a POW in
Camp 5 and died of pneumonia sometime in the winter of 1950.
His remains were reportedly buried in a cemetery near the camp and were not
recovered.
During Operation GLORY in 1954, the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea returned the remains of just over 4,200 individuals, of which nearly
3,000 were determined to be American. During the subsequent processing and
identification of these remains, none were associated with Cherry, and he was
declared non-recoverable Jan. 16, 1956. At the end of the identification
process, 848 unidentified remains, including one designated X-13460 Operation
GLORY, were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also
known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
It was determined that some of the remains thought to be
from the 1st MARDIV Cemetery, including X-13460, actually came from the cemetery
near Camp 5.
Cherry’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.
Cherry will be buried in his hometown. The date has yet to be
determined.
December 23
Navy Seaman 1st Class Billy Turner, 20, Ardmore, Carter County, OK was killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Turner 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 Turner.
Army Pfc. Don D. Dowler, Jr., 18, of
Clarinda, Iowa, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Dowler was a member of Company D, 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.
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.
Dowler’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.
Dowler will be buried Santa Maria, California. The date has yet
to be determined.
Airmen
December 20
Army Air Forces Capt. Nando A.
Cavalieri, 24, of Eveleth, Minnesota, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
In February 1945, Cavalieri was assigned to 324th Bombardment
Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Feb.
3, the B-17G Flying Fortress bomber on which he was serving as bombardier was
flying a mission over Berlin when it was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire. The
plane broke into two pieces in the air and crashed. Cavalieri’s bomber was one
of 21 bombers to be lost during the mission. German forces reportedly recovered
his body and ID tags after the crash and buried him in Döberitz, Germany, on
Feb. 7.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration
Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American
personnel in Europe. They recovered all of the American remains buried in
Döberitz, but were unable to identify Cavalieri. He was declared non-recoverable
on Oct. 23, 1951.
Between 2016 and 2018, DPAA historians completed a comprehensive
research project focused on the eight sets of unknown remains recovered from
Döberitz. As a result, one set of remains, designated X-4983 Neuville, was
determined to be a strong candidate for association with Cavalieri. The remains,
which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle
Monuments Commission cemetery in Belgium, were disinterred in June 2018 and sent
to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and
identification.
Cavalieri’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.
Cavalieri will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Virginia. The date has yet to be determined
December 16
Navy Seaman 1st Class Wilbur F. Newton, 29, Washington killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Newton 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 Newton.
Wilbur L Newton is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at West Coast Memorial, Presidio, California.
Army Pfc. Jimmy Rowland, 19, of Baldwyn,
Mississippi, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In July 1950, Rowland was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 19th
Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on
July 16 while fighting North Korean forces along the Kum River north of Taejon,
South Korea. He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that could be
identified as Rowland. He was declared non-recoverable in January 1956.
In February 1951, four sets of remains were recovered at the foot
of a bridge west of the Seoul-Taejon main supply route and south of Taepyong-ni.
Three of the individuals were identified as casualties from the 19th Inf. Reg.,
but the fourth was unable to be identified. Those remains were designated
Unknown X-418 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-418 was disinterred March 4, 2019, as part of Phase 1 of the Korean War
Identification Project and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base
Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
Rowland’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.
Rowland will be buried Jan. 15, 2022, in his hometown.
December 15
Navy Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Edward L. Conway, 29, Fremont County, Colorado killed during World War II, was accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Conway 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 Conway.
December 15
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Tceollyar Simmons, 18, Geneva County, Alabama 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.
Tceollyar Simmons is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Place of Interment Corner Creek Lower Cemetery - Hacoda, Alabama
December 1
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Hugh R. Alexander, 43, of
Potters Mills, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was
accounted for.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Alexander 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 Alexander. He was posthumously awarded the
Silver Star for his actions in saving the lives of several fellow crew members.
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 Alexander.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS
Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
Alexander’s 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.
Alexander will be buried in San Diego. The date has yet to be
determined.
Army Cpl. Marvin D. Actkinson, 18, of
Sudan, Texas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for.
In late 1950, Actkinson was a member of Company B, 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.
North Korea t