Press Release | Oct. 2, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Zarifian, J.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Jack Zarifian, 19, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, killed during World War II, was accounted for May 10, 2024.

In April 1945, Zarifian was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Buchhof, Germany, when he was reported killed in action after being struck by a Nebelwerfer rocket on Apr. 6. His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against German forces holding the town. Zarifian’s remains were not accounted for during or after the war, and he was not reported as being captured by German forces.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. Several recovery teams visited Buchhof and spoke with locals about missing troops. Villagers explained that several U.S. servicemembers had been buried in their cemetery or within the community, but that American units had later exhumed the dead and took their bodies back to American cemeteries. Zarifian was not among those recovered.

On October 18, 2023, DPAA officials in based in Germany received phone calls from police officers at Mosbach and Heilbronn with reports regarding possible American remains discovered near Buchhof. Explosive ordnance disposal technicians had located what they believed to be human remains and World War II era U.S. equipment and clothing, while clearing a construction site for an underground electrical power line northwest of the village.

Excavation of the site revealed human remains, material evidence consistent with items utilized by U.S. personnel during World War II, and various personal items believed to belong to Zarifian. The evidence was transferred into the custody of the DPAA and accessioned into the laboratory for analysis.

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

Zarifian’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, 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.

Zarifian will be buried in Providence, Rhode Island, on a date to be determined.

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

Press Release | Sept. 25, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Hasselkus, H.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Howard L. Hasselkus, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 23, 2024.

In late 1941, Hasselkus was a member of the 192nd Tank Battalion, 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.  Hasselkus 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.

Press Release | Sept. 24, 2024

Airman Accounted for from WWII (Darrigan, E.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Eugene J. Darrigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 20, 2024.

In March 1944, Darrigan 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, Darrigan, the radio operator 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.

Press Release | Sept. 24, 2024

Marine Accounted for from Vietnam (Forrester, R.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ronald W. Forrester, 25, of Odessa, Texas, killed during Vietnam was accounted for Dec. 4, 2023.

In the winter of 1972, Forrester was assigned to Marine All-Weather Attack Squadron 533, Marine Attack Group 12, 1st Marine Air Wing. On Dec. 27, Forrester was the bombardier/navigator of an A-6A Intruder, during a nighttime combat mission over the northern part of the Democratic Republic of (North) Vietnam. After entering the target area, Forrester’s aircraft ceased radio communications and never returned to base. Search and rescue teams could not locate any trace of the aircraft or the crew in the Le Thuy District, Quang Binh Province. In September 1978, the Marine Corps changed Capt. Forrester’s initial Missing In Action status to Killed in Action.

After decades of investigation into the incident yielding no results, investigators discovered remains and material evidence which is believed to be associated with both missing aviators. This recovered evidence has been associated with Reference Number (REFNO) 1973 incident and corresponding crash site (VN-02653). To date REFNO 1973 is the only A-6 loss within 30 kilometers of the crash site, which the DPAA Indo-Pacific Directorate believes is a direct correlation to the missing Marines.

To identify Forrester’s remains, scientists from DPAA used circumstantial evidence recovered from the crash site, as well as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evidence.

Forrester’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.

Forrester will be buried on Oct. 7, 2024, in Arlington National Cemetery.

For family and funeral information, contact the Marine Corps Casualty Office at (800) 847-1597.

Press Release | Sept. 24, 2024

Sailor Accounted for from WWII (Rix, G.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Navy Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class (PhM3c) Gilmore V. Rix, killed during World War II, was accounted for on June 18, 2024.

In November 1943, Rix was a member of Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, 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, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Rix is believed to have been killed while his unit attempted to secure Red Beach 3 on Nov. 20, 1943. His remains were not identified after the war.