Press Release | Sept. 17, 2024

USS Canopus Sailor Accounted for from WWII (Campbell, J.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Navy Chief Electrician’s Mate (CEM) John J. Campbell, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for August 9, 2024.

In late 1941, Campbell was serving aboard the USS Canopus, which was anchored off Mariveles when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. In February, 1942, crew members from the Canopus were evacuated to Corregidor to support the 4th Marine Regiment’s defense of the island. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.