Press Release | Nov. 13, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Killed During Korean War (Ramos-Rivera, F.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Cpl. Francisco Ramos-Rivera, 33, of Puerto Rico, accounted for on July 12, will be buried November 29 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In July 1950, Ramos-Rivera was a member of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, engaged in combat operations against North Korean forces near Taejon, South Korea. After U.S. forces regrouped after their evacuation of Taejon, Ramos-Rivera could not be accounted-for and was declared missing in action on July 20, 1950.

In December 1953, based on a lack of information regarding his status, Ramos-Rivera was declared deceased. In January 1956, he was declared non-recoverable.

In February 1951, several sets of remains were found in the vicinity of the village of Kujong-ri, South Korea, in an area corresponding to where Ramos-Rivera’s regiment withdrew from battle. One set of remains, designated X-453 Tanggok, could not be identified. In May 1955, X-453 Tanggok was declared unidentifiable and was buried as an Unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In August 2017, Unknown X-453 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and sent to the laboratory for identification.

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

DPAA is grateful to Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Today, 7,675 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams. Although interred as an Unknown Ramos-Rivera’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the ABMC. Ramos-Rivera’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 missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Press Release | Nov. 7, 2018

Funeral Announcement For USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During WWII (Armstrong, K.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted for from World War II, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Molder First Class Kenneth B. Armstrong, 36, of Seattle, accounted for on Aug. 3, 2017, will be buried November 30 in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. On Dec. 7, 1941, Armstrong 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 Armstrong.

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 Armstrong.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the NMCP for analysis.

To identify Armstrong’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which matched family members, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons and anthropological analysis.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,782 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Armstrong’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an American Battle Monuments Commission site 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.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Press Release | Nov. 7, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Marine Killed During World War II (Randall, D.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from World War II, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Marine Corps Sgt. Dwight W. Randall, 22, of Fresno, California, accounted for on September 13, will be buried November 20 in his hometown. In November 1943, Randall was a member of Company C, 2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Randall died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.

Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.

In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but Randall’s remains were not identified. All of the remains found on Tarawa were sent to the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory for identification in 1947. By 1949, the remains that had not been identified were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, including one set, designated as Tarawa Unknown X-162.

On March 27, 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-162 from the NMCP for identification.

To identify Randall’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) analysis, dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,782 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Randall’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the NMCP, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Press Release | Nov. 1, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Killed During Korean War (Kaniatobe, C.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pvt. Charles G. Kaniatobe, 21, of Idabel, Oklahoma, accounted for Sept. 13, 2018, will be buried November 17 in his hometown. In July 1950, Kaniatobe was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, engaged in combat operations against the North Korean People’s Army near Chonui, South Korea. Kaniatobe could not be accounted-for and was declared missing in action on July 10, 1950.

In December 1953, based on a lack of information regarding his status, Kaniatobe was declared deceased. In January 1956, he was declared non-recoverable. No list provided by the Chinese or North Koreans reported Kaniatobe as a POW, and no returning American POWs reported him as a POW.

In early October 1950, a Graves Registration Team attached to Kaniatobe’s regiment recovered the remains of 164 Americans from the area between Chonui and Choch’iown. On Oct. 6, 1950, a set of unidentified remains, designated Unknown X-173 and recovered in the vicinity of Choch’iwon were interred by the U.S. Army in present-day United Nations Military Cemetery Taejou.

In March 1952, Unknown X-173 was exhumed and transferred to the U.S. Army Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan for identification. When an identification could not be made, the remains were reburied as Unknown X-173 in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Hawaii.

On Oct. 16 2017, Unknown X-173 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and sent to the laboratory for analysis.

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

DPAA is grateful to Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Today, 7,676 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams. Kaniatobe’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 missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.