Press Release | Oct. 16, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (McDuffie, C.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Clem D. McDuffie, 18, of Hamlet, North Carolina, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for August 26, 2024.

In the winter of 1950, McDuffie was a member of Item Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Nov. 30 after his unit was attacked by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.

In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15670 Operation Glory. The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as McDuffie and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In March 2021, DPAA disinterred X-15670 as part of Phase 3 of the Korean War disinterment project. X-15670 was accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.

To identify McDuffie’s remains, scientists from DPAA used chest radiograph comparison, dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and mitochondrial genome sequence (mtG) analysis.

McDuffie’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.

McDuffie will be buried in Hamlet, North Carolina, on Nov. 30, 2024.

Press Release | Oct. 10, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Cocco, J.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Private Joseph M. Cocco, 22, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, missing in action during World War II, was accounted for May 15, 2024.

In September 1943, Cocco was assigned to the Company C, 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion in the Mediterranean Theater in World War II. He landed in Italy on Sept. 9 as part of Operation AVALANCHE, the amphibious invasion of the Italian peninsula near Salerno. On Sept. 11, Cocco was reported killed in action in the vicinity of the Chiunzi Pass, north of Maiori, Italy. His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the Mediterranean Theater. In 1947, AGRS investigators located an isolated burial site on the north slope of Monte di Chiunzi, where they recovered a set of remains designated as X-146. Although X-146 was initially believed to be Cocco, following recovery, investigators didn’t have enough identifying data or circumstantial information about Cocco’s loss to positively ID the remains. X-146 was interred at U.S. Military Cemetery Nettuno, which is now Sicily-Rome American Cemetery.

In 2019, while studying unresolved American losses from Operation Avalanche, a DPAA historian compiled information from archival documents and secondary sources that placed Cocco’s death at a forward observation post on the north slope of Monte di Chiunzi, the same area where X-146 was recovered. The remains which had been buried at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy in 1948, were disinterred in March 2022 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.

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

Cocco’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Cocco will be buried in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, in mid-November 2024.

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

Press Release | Oct. 10, 2024

Airman Accounted for from WWII (Kelly, T.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly Jr., killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 25, 2024.

In March 1944, Kelly was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. On the morning of March 11, Kelly, the bombardier onboard a B-24D “Liberator” Heaven Can Wait departed Nadzab Strip #1, Papua New Guinea, as part of a bombing mission against enemy positions at Boram Airfield, and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea. Observers from other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly. Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing down into the water. It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing un-dropped ordnance to explode. Several aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating any possible survivors, but none could be seen.

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

Press Release | Oct. 9, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Garelick, S.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Simon Garelick, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Oct. 7, 2024.

In late 1941, Garelick was a member of Headquarters Company, Philippines Department in the Philippines during World War II, 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.

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

Press Release | Oct. 8, 2024

Pilot Accounted for from Vietnam War (Kilpatrick, L.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Larry R. Kilpatrick, 28, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, killed during Vietnam was accounted for May 18, 2018.

In June 1972, Kilpatrick was a member of Attack Squadron One Hundred Five (VA-105), on board the USS Saratoga (CVA-60), flying an A-7A “Corsair II” aircraft in a flight of two on a night armed reconnaissance mission over northern Vietnam.  Kilpatrick’s wingman lost radio contact with him outside of Ha Tinh City, after he announced he had sighted a target and was commencing an attack.  After daybreak, search and rescue aircraft observed remnants of a parachute near Kilpatrick’s last known location, but could not identify it as Kilpatrick’s.  The search and rescue team was unable to locate any aircraft wreckage.

On June 19, 1972, a Radio Hanoi broadcast claimed a shoot-down of four aircraft in the previous two days.  According to the report, on June 18, an A-7 was shot down.  Records indicated that Kilpatrick’s A-7A was the only aircraft of that kind lost during that period.

In 1996, a joint team excavated the crash site, recovering aircraft wreckage consistent with an A-7 aircraft, but no remains were located.  In the following years, excavation of the crash site was expanded, with teams recovering possible osseous remains, as well as life support items.  The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for processing and identification.

To identify Kilpatrick’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence recovered from the crash site.

Kilpatrick’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.

Kilpatrick will be buried in Gwinnett County, Georgia, on Nov. 15, 2024.

For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Casualty Office at (800) 443-9298.