Press Release | Oct. 18, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Moss, T.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Tech Sgt. Thomas O. Moss, 31, of Brim, Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for August 6, 2024.

In November 1944, Moss was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His battalion had captured the town of Kommerscheidt, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest. A series of heavy German counterattacks eventually forced his battalion to withdraw. Moss was reported killed in action on Nov. 7., while fighting enemy forces at Kommerscheidt. His remains could not be recovered after the attack.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950 but were unable to recover or identify Moss’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1951.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one of three sets of unidentified remains, designated X-6566, X-6567 and X-6568, recovered from a mass grave at Kommerscheidt in April 1946, possibly belonged to Moss. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1949, were disinterred in Aug. 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Moss’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

Moss’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Plombières, 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.

Moss will be buried in Salisbury, North Carolina, on Nov. 22, 2024

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

Press Release | Oct. 17, 2024

Airman Accounted for from WWII (Bradner, W.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. William W. Bradner, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for June 10, 2024.

Bradner was a member of the 28th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Bradner’s case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.

Press Release | Oct. 17, 2024

Airman Accounted For From World War II (Huff, M.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Corporal Melvin L. Huff, 19, of Iowa Falls, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted for on July 30, 2024.

In January 1945, Huff was assigned to 360th Service Group, Combat Replacement Training Center, Far East Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat near Wewak, Territory of New Guinea, Huff’s unit attacked enemy defensive positions on nearby Cape Wom. Huff, an arial gunner, was reported as missing in action on Jan. 20, when friendly forces lost contact with the A-20G Havoc bomber he was aboard.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. In June 1949, a board of AGRS officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains of Huff and the other two crew members. They were designated as non-recoverable.

DPAA predecessor organizations began researching and recovering service members from Papua New Guinea in the early 1980s. In December 2011, an Australian Defence Force officer reported seeing an aircraft crash site in a swap near Cape Wom, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. A local guide from the nearby Wom Village had discovered the site roughly six months prior and stated human remains had been seen in the crash.  Between July 2015 and May 2016, DPAA personnel interviewed locals, collected crash materials and various life support items, and collected possible osseous remains.  In late 2022, a DPAA Underwater Recovery Team conducted operations at the site, and recovered possible human remains, material evidence, and other life support equipment. The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis.

To identify Huff’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence.

Huff’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Huff will be buried in Iowa Falls, Iowa, on a date to be determined.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

Press Release | Oct. 17, 2024

Airman Accounted for from WWII (Curran, B.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. Bernard J. Curran, 20, of Lowell, Massachusetts, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for August 2, 2024.

In late 1941, Curran was a member of 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.  Curran was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Curran died Nov. 14, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 723.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Four of the sets of remains from Common Grave 723 were identified, while the remaining seven were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In June 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 723 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Curran’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Curran’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Today, Curran is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.  A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Curran will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be determined.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.