Press Release | Sept. 17, 2024

Pilot Accounted for from WWII (Leverett, W.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Wylie W. Leverett, killed during World War II, was accounted for August 21, 2024.

In late 1944, Leverett was assigned to the 708th Bombardment Squadron, 447th Bombardment Group, 4th Combat Bomb Wing, 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Dec. 30, Leverett, the pilot onboard a B-17G “Flying Fortress” Fuddy Duddy, was lost when his aircraft collided with another American aircraft while on a bombing mission to Mannheim, Germany.

Press Release | Sept. 16, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (Hall, R.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Raymond E. Hall, 40, of Mt Ash, Kentucky, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for May 10, 2024.

In July 1950, Hall was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was originally reported missing in action on July 31, after his unit engaged in intensive combat actions against North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) forces in the vicinity of Sunchon, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Hall had actually been captured by enemy forces and was being transported north with other POWs, when NKPA guards suddenly executed him and 65 other U.S. POWs in what would be called the “Suncheon Tunnel Massacre.” The remains of the men were found by U.S. forces the following day and were transported to the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Pyongyang for temporary interment. Hall was initially identified by FBI fingerprint comparison while at UNMC, but Pyongyang had to be evacuated to due to enemy activity and his remains were not recovered.

Following the war, in 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. One set of Unknown remains, designated X-17101 OP GLORY, was not accompanied by any clothing, personal effects, or any identification media. While Hall had been previously identified, U.S. Army Central Identification investigators could not correlate X-17101 with Hall at the time. Those remains were then sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In Aug. 2017, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown X-17101 from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.

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

Hall’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.

Hall will be buried in Calverton, New York, on Oct. 21, 2024.

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

Press Release | Sept. 16, 2024

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted for from WWII (Johnson, E.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Fireman 1^st Class Edward D. Johnson, 24, of Hurdsfield, North Dakota, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 29, 2020.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Johnson 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 Johnson. 

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 Johnson.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.

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

Johnson’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, 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.

Johnson will be buried on Oct. 25, 2024, in the Punchbowl.

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

Press Release | Sept. 13, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (DeCloss, R.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Corporal Raymond N. DeCloss, 24, of Salinas, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Apr. 29, 2024.

In late 1941, DeCloss was a member of Company C, 194th Tank Battalion, U.S. Army, 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.  DeCloss 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, DeCloss died Nov. 15, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 721.

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. Five of the sets of remains from Common Grave 721 were identified, while the remaining 10 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 721 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify DeCloss’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), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, DeCloss’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Today, DeCloss 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.

DeCloss 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.

Press Release | Sept. 13, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Merrill, W.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. Willard D. Merrill, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for August 19, 2024.

In late 1942, Merrill was a member of the 2nd Observation Squadron, 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.  Merrill 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.