Press Release | April 18, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Captured During WWII (Sinowitz, R.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that a U.S. serviceman, captured during World War II, has been identified and is being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pvt. Raymond Sinowitz, 25, of Bronx, New York, accounted for on Aug. 18 2017, will be buried April 23 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On Dec. 8, 1941, Sinowitz was a member of 454th Ordnance Company, 27th Bombardment Group, the Far East Air Force, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of the Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were taken prisoner; including many who were forced to endure the Bataan Death March, en route to Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camps, including the POW camp at Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines. Sinowitz was among those reported captured after the surrender of Corregidor and who were eventually moved to the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the remaining years of the war.

According to prisoner records, Sinowitz died on Sept. 26, 1942, and was buried along with fellow prisoners in the local Cabanatuan camp cemetery.

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 cemetery near Manila. In late 1947, the AGRS again exhumed the remains at the Manila cemetery in an attempt to identify them. Due to the circumstances of the POW deaths and burials, the extensive commingling, and the limited identification technologies of the time, all of the remains could not be individually identified. The unidentified remains were reburied as unknowns in the present-day Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

In May 2016, the Secretary of the Army granted permission to exhume six graves associated with the Cabanatuan Common Grave 439. On May 11, 2017, the remains were sent to DPAA for identification.

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

DPAA is appreciative to the American Battle Monuments Commission 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 72,934 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Sinowitz’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery, an ABMC site along with the other MIAs from WWII. Although interred as an “unknown” in Manila American Cemetery, Sinowitz’ grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission. 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 | April 18, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Captured During The Korean War (Walker, L.)

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

Army Sgt. 1st Class Lester R. Walker, 19, of Ferriday, Louisiana, accounted for on Sept. 26, 2017, will be buried April 18 in Downsville, Louisiana. On Sept. 3, 1950, Walker was a member of Battery B, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, when he was declared missing in action in the vicinity of Changnyeong, South Korea, while attached to Task Force Haynes. Based on a lack of information concerning his status, the U.S. Army declared him deceased and his remains non-recoverable.

Despite the efforts of the Army Graves Registration Services (AGRS) and Central Identification Unit (CIU) in Kokura, Japan, more than 800 sets of unidentified remains were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, as “Unknowns,” including one set of remains designated “Unknown X-2026.”

During the initial recovery of X-2026, the AGRS interviewed several local villagers who stated that in mid-September 1950, two U.S. prisoners were brought to their village. The prisoners reported to the villagers that they had been captured at the Naktong River near Changnyung. The witnesses recounted that the prisoners were killed by enemy forces, then buried by locals several days later.

After a thorough historical and scientific analysis of information associated with X-2026, it was determined that the remains could likely be identified. After receipt of approval, the remains were disinterred from the Punchbowl on Aug. 13, 2017, and sent to the laboratory for analysis.

To identify Walker’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his records, as well as circumstantial evidence.

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

Today, 7,704 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. Walker’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, 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 | April 9, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Naval Aviator Missing Fron World War II (Rink, I.)

DPAA Public Affairs

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

Navy Reserve Lt. j.g. Irvin E. Rink, 25, of Wichita, Kansas, accounted for on July 10, 2017, will be buried April 16 in his hometown. On Aug. 4, 1943, Rink was a member of Fighting Squadron Twenty Seven (VF-27), when eight pilots flying F4F-4 Wildcat aircraft took off from the Russell Islands, Solomon Islands, to escort a Catalina seaplane on a mission to Enogai Inlet, New Georgia Island. As the seaplane attempted to land at Enogai Inlet, the escort aircraft were attacked by Japanese fighter planes. Following the battle, the element returned to the Russell Islands, however Rink did not return. He was reported missing in action on Aug. 4, 1943. Based on a lack of information regarding his whereabouts, he was declared deceased on Jan. 8, 1946.

In March 2008, Mark Roche, an American diver, photographed an F4F-4 aircraft inverted on a reef approximately 45 feet under water off the northwest coast of New Georgia. He recovered human remains and material evidence from the wreckage and transferred them to the U.S. Consulate in Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.

In February 2013, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (predecessor to DPAA) team traveled to the Solomon Islands where they received possible remains from the crash site. The remains were sent to the laboratory and consolidated the remains found in 2008.

To identify Rink’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR) DNA, which matched his family, as well as anthropological analysis, which matched Rink’s records, and historical evidence.

DPAA is grateful to Mark Roche for his assistance in this recovery.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,934 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Rink’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site, in the Philippines, along with other MIAs from World War II.

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.

Press Release | April 6, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Pilot Killed During Vietnam War (Hestle, R.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Air Force Col. Roosevelt Hestle, Jr., 38, of Orlando, accounted for on June 6, 2017, will be buried April 13, 2018 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On July 6, 1966, Hestle was a pilot assigned to the 388th Tactical Fighter Squadron, aboard the lead aircraft in a flight of four F-105s on a strike mission against surface-to-air missile sites in northern Vietnam. As they approached the target, Hestle issued a missile launch warning, and all aircraft began evasive action by diving toward the ground. As the aircraft approached the town of Thai Ngyuen, anti-aircraft began firing at them. Due to the evasive action, the other aircraft lost sight of Hestle. Crews aboard one aircraft observed a large ball rising from the ground, though no crash was observed. Contact attempts were unsuccessful and no parachutes or distress signals were seen or heard. Due to hostile conditions in the area, search and rescue attempts could not be initiated and an aerial search of the area produced no results. Based on this information, Hestle was declared missing in action.

In January 1995, during the 33rd Joint Field Activity (JFA), a joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) team excavated an F-105 crash site near Binh Son Village. Several pieces of life support equipment were recovered, but no remains were recovered.

On April 15, 2015, a Joint Forensic Review (JFR) team received possible human remains recovered by a Vietnamese national who was farming in the area in 1996. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Hestle’s remains, DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), which matched his brother, as well as anthropological analysis, which matched his records and circumstantial evidence.

The support from the government and the people of Vietnam was vital to the success of this recovery

Today there are 1,598 American servicemen and civilians still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Hestle’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others unaccounted-for from the Vietnam 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 missing Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Press Release | April 2, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Marine Killed During World War II (Jordan, E.)

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

Marine Corps Pvt. Edwin W. Jordan, 17, of Pittsburgh, and accounted for on Sept. 27, 2017, will be buried April 9, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. In November 1943, Jordan was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 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. Jordan died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.

The battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy 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. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio Island, but Jordan’s remains were not recovered. On Feb. 28, 1949, a military review board declared Jordan’s remains non-recoverable.

In July 2017, through a partnership with History Flight, Inc., DPAA used advanced investigative techniques to locate further areas believed to contain the remains of men buried on Tarawa. The recovered remains were sent to the laboratory for analysis.

To identify Jordan’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his records, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

DPAA is grateful to History Flight, Inc., 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 72,936 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Jordan’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, along with the others killed or lost in 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.