Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Vars)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. soldier, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. Christopher Y. Vars, 40, of Chelsea, Mass., will be buried Oct. 6, in Everett, Mass. In late 1950, Vars was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division (ID), which was deployed north and east of the town of Kunu-ri, North Korea. On Nov. 27, 1950, 2nd ID was forced to withdraw south to a more defensible position after being attacked by Chinese forces. Before they could disengage, the 2nd ID had to fight through a series of Chinese roadblocks, commonly known as “the Gauntlet.” Vars was reported missing in action during the battle.
In 1953, during a prisoner of war exchange, returning American soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war reported that Vars was not among the many men captured and held as prisoners.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea turned over to the U.S. 208 boxes of human remains now believed to contain at least 600 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents turned over with some of the boxes indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the vicinity where captured soldiers from Var’s unit were believed to have died.
To identify Vars’ remains, scientists from the DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and two forms of DNA analysis including; mitochondrial DNA, which matched his cousins, and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA (Y-STR) analysis, which matched his nephews.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American recovery teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-03-31 20:50:192025-03-31 20:50:20Sgt. Christopher Y. Vars
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Reager)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert Reager, 20, of Coraopolis, Penn., will be buried Sept. 28, in Bridgeville, Penn. On Dec. 1, 1950, Reager was assigned to Company C, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), 7th Infantry Division. The 31st RCT was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was engaged by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. In late November 1950, remnants of the 31st RCT, known historically as Task Force Faith, began a fighting withdrawal to more defensible positions near Hagaru-ri, south of the reservoir. On Dec. 2, 1950, Reager was reported as missing in action.
In 1953, as part of a prisoner of war exchange, returning American soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war reported that Reager was not among the many men captured and held as prisoners. When no further information pertaining to Reager was provided, a military review board later amended Reager’s status to deceased.
From April 28 through May 10, 2004, a joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea excavated several secondary burial sites in the vicinity of the Pungnyu-ri inlet of the Chosin Reservoir, and recovered remains of possible U.S. servicemen who fought during the battles at the reservoir.
To identify Reager’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and two forms of DNA analysis including; mitochondrial DNA, which matched his brother and two cousins, and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA (Y-STR) analysis, which matched his brother.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using advances in technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-03-31 20:48:232025-03-31 20:48:24Sgt. 1st Class Robert Reager
Marine Missing From World War II Accounted For (Bonnyman)
Sept. 21, 2015 – The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, unaccounted for since World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., 33, of Knoxville, Tenn., will be buried Sept. 27, in his hometown. In November 1943, Bonnyman was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 18th Marines Regiment, 2nd Marines Division, which landed on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll, in an attempt to secure the island against stiff Japanese resistance. Over several days of intense fighting, approximately 1,000 Marines were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded. Bonnyman personally led a 21-man team in an initial attack against Japanese forces, where they engaged in close-quarter fighting. As a result of these attacks, Bonnyman was reported killed in action on Nov. 22, 1943. His body was not recovered by U.S. forces at that time. Bonnyman was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor – the United States’ highest military honor – for personal acts of exceptional valor during the battle.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. During World War II, U.S. Navy Combat Engineers, “Seabees,” significantly restructured the landscape to convert the island for use by the military. In 1947, the Army Graves Registration Service recovered remains from the island for repatriation, but Bonnyman’s remains were not recovered.
In June 2015, a History Flight Inc. team notified DPAA that their group discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what was believed to be U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. During the recovery operations, one of their anthropologists compared the dental remains recovered to Bonnyman’s dental records, suggesting a match. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015.
DPAA confirmed the identification of Bonnyman using circumstantial and material evidence, as well as laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons, which matched Bonnyman’s records.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-03-31 20:47:332025-03-31 20:47:341st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Butler)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Nehemiah E. Butler, 19, of Pocomoke City, Md., will be buried Aug. 10, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington D.C. In late December 1950, Butler and elements of Company C, 19th Infantry Regiment (IR), 24th Infantry Division (ID), were deployed near Seoul, South Korea, when their unit was attacked by enemy forces. During the attempt to delay the enemy forces from advancing, Butler was separated from his unit while moving towards a more defensible position. Butler was reported missing Jan. 1, 1951.
On July 19, 1951, a Republic of South Korea military officer told U.S. Army Graves Registration Services (AGRS) personnel about the remains of a U.S. serviceman, who, died and was buried near the village of Chik-Tong-ni. The AGRS team located the remains. Due to lack of documentation, the remains were declared unidentified. The remains were interred as unknown at the U.N. Military Cemetery in Tanggok, and were later disinterred and transferred to the Central Identification Unit (CIU) in Kokura, Japan. In 1955, the remains were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), commonly known as the “Punchbowl”.
In 2009, the Department of Defense (DoD) re-examined records and concluded that with advances in technology, the possibility of identification of some of these unknowns buried in the Punch Bowl now existed.
In the identification of Butler’s remains, scientists from the DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence, dental and chest radiographs comparison, and mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched his sister.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-03-31 20:45:572025-03-31 20:45:59Cpl. Nehemiah E. Butler
Airman Missing From World War II Accounted For (Biezis)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing since World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Stephen V. Biezis, 23, of Chicago, will be buried Aug. 14, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. His co-pilot, 1st Lt. James F. Gatlin, 25, of Jacksonville, Fla., was buried Jan. 30, in Bushnell, Fla. On Dec. 23, 1944, Biezis and his crew of five were assigned to the 575th Bombardment Squadron, 391st Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force and were deployed to Germany. Biezis was the co-pilot of a B-26C Marauder that crashed after being struck by enemy fire while on a bombing mission against enemy forces near Ahrweiler, Germany. Biezis, Gatlin and three other crew members were reported killed in action. His remains were not recovered during the war.
One of the crew members parachuted from the aircraft but was captured and held as a prisoner of war by German forces. Following his release, he reported to U. S. officials that he had no knowledge of the fate of the remaining crewmen.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) conducted investigations on the loss of Biezis and his crew and successfully located the crash site, near Manderscheid and Bettenfeld. The remains of two crewmen were recovered.
On May 27, 1999, a U.S. team investigating World War II losses in Germany visited a crash site near Bettenfeld. Two German nationals had researched the crash site and showed the team artifacts that were found and turned over remains collected from the site. Those remains were identified as Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Joe R. Sanchez, 20, of Los Nietos, Calif. He was accounted for in March 2011 and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Between 2011 and 2014, the Department of Defense teams traveled to Bettenfeld and conducted operations at the crash site.
To identify Biezis’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used forensic identification tools to include mitochondrial DNA, which matched his sister and cousin.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died. Today, more than 73,000 are unaccounted for from the conflict.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-03-31 20:45:212025-03-31 20:45:232nd Lt. Stephen V. Biezis
Airmen Missing From World War II Accounted For (LeFavre)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. servicemen, missing from World War II, have been accounted for and their remains are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. William P. Cook, 27, of Alameda, Calif., Flight Officer Arthur J. LeFavre, 22, of Red Bank, N.J., Staff Sgts. Maurice J. Fevold, 21, of Chicago, Frank G. Lane Jr., 21, of Cleveland, and Ward C. Swalwell Jr., 21, of Chicago, and Sgt. Eric M. Honeyman, 21, of Alameda, Calif., have been accounted for and will be buried with full military honors. Cook was buried Oct. 18, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. Fevold was buried Oct. 20, 2014, in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, Lane was buried May 2, 2015, in Willoughby, Ohio. Honeyman was buried on June 22, in Trail, British Columbia, Canada. LeFavre will be buried on Aug. 18 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington D.C. The group representing the crew will be buried on Aug. 18, in Arlington National Cemetery. Swalwell will be buried on Aug. 20, in Arlington National Cemetery.
On Dec. 23, 1944, Cook along with five other B-26G Marauder crewmembers took off from Saint Quentin, France, on a mission to bomb an enemy-held bridge in Eller, Germany. The aircraft was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire near Seffern, Germany, near the Belgium border.
Following World War II, the Army Graves Registration Command (AGRC) conducted extensive field investigations and was unable to locate the aircraft and the crew. In May 1949, AGRC concluded the crew members were unrecoverable.
In 2006, a group of researchers from Airwar History Working Group Rhine-Moselle and History Flight -99th Division MIA Project located the wreckage of a B-26G associated with the loss of this crew, near Allmuthen, Belgium and notified the U.S. Army Mortuary Affairs Activity – Europe. In 2007, a Department of Defense (DoD) team investigated the site and recommended it for excavation.
In 2012 and 2013, another DoD team excavated the crash site and recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage, and personal effects.
To identify Honeyman’s remains, scientists from DoD and AFDIL used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including, partial Y-Chromosome Short Tandem Repeat (Y-STR) DNA, which matched Honeyman’s paternal-line cousins.
To identify Cook’s remains, scientists from DoD and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including mitochondrial DNA, which matched Cook’s maternal-line cousins.
To identify LeFavre’s remains scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including, mitochondrial DNA, which matched LeFavre’s maternal-line niece and grandniece.
To identify Lane’s remains, scientists from DPAA and AFDIL used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including, partial Y-Chromosome Short Tandem Repeat (Y-STR) DNA, which matched Lane’s paternal-line nephew.
To identify Fevold’s remains, scientists from DoD and AFDIL used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including, mitochondrial DNA, which matched Fevold’s maternal-line niece.
To identify Swalwell’s remains scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including, mitochondrial DNA, which matched Swalwell’s maternal-line sister and niece.
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.dpa
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Rights)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. George L. Rights, 23, of Winston-Salem, N.C., will be buried Aug. 9, in his hometown. In February 1951, Rights and elements of Battery B, 15th Field Artillery (FA) Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division (ID), were supporting the Republic of South Korea when the 15th FA was attacked by Chinese forces near Hoengsong, South Korea. Elements of the 2ID suffered more than 200 casualties, and more than 100 men were taken as prisoners during this attack. Following the battle, Rights was reported as missing in action.
In 1953, during a prisoner of war exchange historically known as Operation Big Switch, returning American soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war reported that Rights had been captured by Chinese forces, and died in May 1951, in a prisoner of war camp, known as Bean Camp, in Suan, North Korea.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea turned over to the U.S. 208 boxes believed to contain the remains of more than 400 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents turned over at that time indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the area where Rights was believed to have died.
To identify Rights’ remains, scientists from the DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and two forms of DNA analysis including; mitochondrial DNA, which matched his brother and sister, and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA (Y-STR) analysis, which matched his brother and nephew.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-03-31 20:42:422025-03-31 21:07:00Pfc. George L. Rights
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Therkelsen)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Donald A. Therkelsen, 23, of Chicago, will be buried Aug. 8, in Medical Lake, Washington. In July 1953, Therkelsen was assigned to Medical Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division (ID). On July 16, 1953, Chinese forces launched a massive attack, commonly known as the Battle of Kumsong, centered along the Kumsong River, North Korea. The attack caused Therkelsen and elements of the 3rd ID to withdraw to a more defensible position. Therkelsen was reported missing in action July 17, 1953.
In June 1955, a military board interviewed three U.S. soldiers who all stated that Therkelsen died while providing aid to a fallen soldier during the battle. Based on this information, the military review board amended Therkelsen status to killed in action. His remains were not among those returned by Chinese forces during Operation Glory in 1954.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea turned over to the U.S. 208 boxes of human remains believed to represent more than 400 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents, turned over with some of the boxes, indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the vicinity where Therkelsen was believed to have died.
To identify Therkelsen’s remains, scientists from the DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence, chest radiography analysis, and mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched his cousins.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-03-31 20:40:572025-03-31 20:40:59Donald A. Therkelsen
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that a U.S. serviceman, missing from World War II, has been identified and is being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Edward F. Barker, 21, of Herkimer, N.Y., will be buried Aug. 1, in his hometown. On Sept. 30, 1944, Barker was the pilot of an P-47D Thunderbolt that failed to return from a training mission in Papua New Guinea. The aircraft was last seen flying north-northwest of Finschhafen, and all search efforts failed to locate Barker and the aircraft. Barker was reported as missing when he failed to return after the mission. A military review board later amended his status to presumed dead.
In 1962, a U.S. military team discovered P-47D aircraft wreckage in the mountains of the Huan Peninsula in Morobe Province. The aircraft was correlated to Barker; however, the team found no evidence of the pilot.
From Jan. 22-25, 2002, a Department of Defense (DoD) team located the crash site, but no remains of the pilot were discovered during the survey of the site.
In late 2012, another DoD team began excavating the site. The team recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage, military gear and personal effects.
To identify Barker’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including mitochondrial DNA, which matched his niece and nephew.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-03-31 20:40:232025-03-31 20:40:252nd Lt. Edward F. Barker
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that a U.S. serviceman, missing from World War II, has been identified and is being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pvt. Arthur H. Kelder, 26, of McHenry, Ill., will be buried July 18, in Chicago. On Dec. 8, 1941, Kelder was assigned to the Philippine Department, U.S. Army Forces in the Far East, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. Kelder and his unit cared for those wounded in intense fighting until May 6, 1942, when the U.S. fortress of Corregidor fell, and the Philippines fell under control of Japanese forces. 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. Kelder 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. On Nov. 19, 1942, 14 Americans, including Kelder, were reported to have died and been buried by their fellow prisoners in a common grave in a local camp cemetery in Cabanatuan.
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 Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, a permanent American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery in the Philippines.
In 2014, after the Kelder family had requested the disinterment of remains they believed to be Kelder, the Department of Defense determined that in order to apply its modern identification technologies to the Kelder case and enhance the possibility of identification, 10 graves in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial associated with Kelder’s loss would have to be exhumed. Kelder’s DNA was identified in 3 of the 10 sets of remains disinterred.
To identify Kelder’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used the available evidence and forensic identification tools, including mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA (Y-STR), which matched the DNA samples provided by his cousins.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-03-31 20:39:252025-03-31 20:39:26Pvt. Arthur H. Kelder
Sgt. Christopher Y. Vars
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Sept. 28, 2015
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Vars)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. soldier, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. Christopher Y. Vars, 40, of Chelsea, Mass., will be buried Oct. 6, in Everett, Mass. In late 1950, Vars was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division (ID), which was deployed north and east of the town of Kunu-ri, North Korea. On Nov. 27, 1950, 2nd ID was forced to withdraw south to a more defensible position after being attacked by Chinese forces. Before they could disengage, the 2nd ID had to fight through a series of Chinese roadblocks, commonly known as “the Gauntlet.” Vars was reported missing in action during the battle.
In 1953, during a prisoner of war exchange, returning American soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war reported that Vars was not among the many men captured and held as prisoners.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea turned over to the U.S. 208 boxes of human remains now believed to contain at least 600 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents turned over with some of the boxes indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the vicinity where captured soldiers from Var’s unit were believed to have died.
To identify Vars’ remains, scientists from the DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and two forms of DNA analysis including; mitochondrial DNA, which matched his cousins, and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA (Y-STR) analysis, which matched his nephews.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American recovery teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
Sgt. 1st Class Robert Reager
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Sept. 23, 2015
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Reager)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert Reager, 20, of Coraopolis, Penn., will be buried Sept. 28, in Bridgeville, Penn. On Dec. 1, 1950, Reager was assigned to Company C, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), 7th Infantry Division. The 31st RCT was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was engaged by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. In late November 1950, remnants of the 31st RCT, known historically as Task Force Faith, began a fighting withdrawal to more defensible positions near Hagaru-ri, south of the reservoir. On Dec. 2, 1950, Reager was reported as missing in action.
In 1953, as part of a prisoner of war exchange, returning American soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war reported that Reager was not among the many men captured and held as prisoners. When no further information pertaining to Reager was provided, a military review board later amended Reager’s status to deceased.
From April 28 through May 10, 2004, a joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea excavated several secondary burial sites in the vicinity of the Pungnyu-ri inlet of the Chosin Reservoir, and recovered remains of possible U.S. servicemen who fought during the battles at the reservoir.
To identify Reager’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and two forms of DNA analysis including; mitochondrial DNA, which matched his brother and two cousins, and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA (Y-STR) analysis, which matched his brother.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using advances in technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Sept. 22, 2015
Marine Missing From World War II Accounted For (Bonnyman)
Sept. 21, 2015 – The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, unaccounted for since World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., 33, of Knoxville, Tenn., will be buried Sept. 27, in his hometown. In November 1943, Bonnyman was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 18th Marines Regiment, 2nd Marines Division, which landed on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll, in an attempt to secure the island against stiff Japanese resistance. Over several days of intense fighting, approximately 1,000 Marines were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded. Bonnyman personally led a 21-man team in an initial attack against Japanese forces, where they engaged in close-quarter fighting. As a result of these attacks, Bonnyman was reported killed in action on Nov. 22, 1943. His body was not recovered by U.S. forces at that time. Bonnyman was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor – the United States’ highest military honor – for personal acts of exceptional valor during the battle.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. During World War II, U.S. Navy Combat Engineers, “Seabees,” significantly restructured the landscape to convert the island for use by the military. In 1947, the Army Graves Registration Service recovered remains from the island for repatriation, but Bonnyman’s remains were not recovered.
In June 2015, a History Flight Inc. team notified DPAA that their group discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what was believed to be U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. During the recovery operations, one of their anthropologists compared the dental remains recovered to Bonnyman’s dental records, suggesting a match. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015.
DPAA confirmed the identification of Bonnyman using circumstantial and material evidence, as well as laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons, which matched Bonnyman’s records.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
Cpl. Nehemiah E. Butler
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Aug. 6, 2015
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Butler)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Nehemiah E. Butler, 19, of Pocomoke City, Md., will be buried Aug. 10, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington D.C. In late December 1950, Butler and elements of Company C, 19th Infantry Regiment (IR), 24th Infantry Division (ID), were deployed near Seoul, South Korea, when their unit was attacked by enemy forces. During the attempt to delay the enemy forces from advancing, Butler was separated from his unit while moving towards a more defensible position. Butler was reported missing Jan. 1, 1951.
On July 19, 1951, a Republic of South Korea military officer told U.S. Army Graves Registration Services (AGRS) personnel about the remains of a U.S. serviceman, who, died and was buried near the village of Chik-Tong-ni. The AGRS team located the remains. Due to lack of documentation, the remains were declared unidentified. The remains were interred as unknown at the U.N. Military Cemetery in Tanggok, and were later disinterred and transferred to the Central Identification Unit (CIU) in Kokura, Japan. In 1955, the remains were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), commonly known as the “Punchbowl”.
In 2009, the Department of Defense (DoD) re-examined records and concluded that with advances in technology, the possibility of identification of some of these unknowns buried in the Punch Bowl now existed.
In the identification of Butler’s remains, scientists from the DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence, dental and chest radiographs comparison, and mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched his sister.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
2nd Lt. Stephen V. Biezis
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Aug. 6, 2015
Airman Missing From World War II Accounted For (Biezis)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing since World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Stephen V. Biezis, 23, of Chicago, will be buried Aug. 14, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. His co-pilot, 1st Lt. James F. Gatlin, 25, of Jacksonville, Fla., was buried Jan. 30, in Bushnell, Fla. On Dec. 23, 1944, Biezis and his crew of five were assigned to the 575th Bombardment Squadron, 391st Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force and were deployed to Germany. Biezis was the co-pilot of a B-26C Marauder that crashed after being struck by enemy fire while on a bombing mission against enemy forces near Ahrweiler, Germany. Biezis, Gatlin and three other crew members were reported killed in action. His remains were not recovered during the war.
One of the crew members parachuted from the aircraft but was captured and held as a prisoner of war by German forces. Following his release, he reported to U. S. officials that he had no knowledge of the fate of the remaining crewmen.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) conducted investigations on the loss of Biezis and his crew and successfully located the crash site, near Manderscheid and Bettenfeld. The remains of two crewmen were recovered.
On May 27, 1999, a U.S. team investigating World War II losses in Germany visited a crash site near Bettenfeld. Two German nationals had researched the crash site and showed the team artifacts that were found and turned over remains collected from the site. Those remains were identified as Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Joe R. Sanchez, 20, of Los Nietos, Calif. He was accounted for in March 2011 and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Between 2011 and 2014, the Department of Defense teams traveled to Bettenfeld and conducted operations at the crash site.
To identify Biezis’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used forensic identification tools to include mitochondrial DNA, which matched his sister and cousin.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died. Today, more than 73,000 are unaccounted for from the conflict.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
Cook, LaFavre, Fevold, Lane, Swalwell, Honeyman
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Aug. 6, 2015
Airmen Missing From World War II Accounted For (LeFavre)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. servicemen, missing from World War II, have been accounted for and their remains are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. William P. Cook, 27, of Alameda, Calif., Flight Officer Arthur J. LeFavre, 22, of Red Bank, N.J., Staff Sgts. Maurice J. Fevold, 21, of Chicago, Frank G. Lane Jr., 21, of Cleveland, and Ward C. Swalwell Jr., 21, of Chicago, and Sgt. Eric M. Honeyman, 21, of Alameda, Calif., have been accounted for and will be buried with full military honors. Cook was buried Oct. 18, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. Fevold was buried Oct. 20, 2014, in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, Lane was buried May 2, 2015, in Willoughby, Ohio. Honeyman was buried on June 22, in Trail, British Columbia, Canada. LeFavre will be buried on Aug. 18 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington D.C. The group representing the crew will be buried on Aug. 18, in Arlington National Cemetery. Swalwell will be buried on Aug. 20, in Arlington National Cemetery.
On Dec. 23, 1944, Cook along with five other B-26G Marauder crewmembers took off from Saint Quentin, France, on a mission to bomb an enemy-held bridge in Eller, Germany. The aircraft was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire near Seffern, Germany, near the Belgium border.
Following World War II, the Army Graves Registration Command (AGRC) conducted extensive field investigations and was unable to locate the aircraft and the crew. In May 1949, AGRC concluded the crew members were unrecoverable.
In 2006, a group of researchers from Airwar History Working Group Rhine-Moselle and History Flight -99th Division MIA Project located the wreckage of a B-26G associated with the loss of this crew, near Allmuthen, Belgium and notified the U.S. Army Mortuary Affairs Activity – Europe. In 2007, a Department of Defense (DoD) team investigated the site and recommended it for excavation.
In 2012 and 2013, another DoD team excavated the crash site and recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage, and personal effects.
To identify Honeyman’s remains, scientists from DoD and AFDIL used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including, partial Y-Chromosome Short Tandem Repeat (Y-STR) DNA, which matched Honeyman’s paternal-line cousins.
To identify Cook’s remains, scientists from DoD and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including mitochondrial DNA, which matched Cook’s maternal-line cousins.
To identify LeFavre’s remains scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including, mitochondrial DNA, which matched LeFavre’s maternal-line niece and grandniece.
To identify Lane’s remains, scientists from DPAA and AFDIL used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including, partial Y-Chromosome Short Tandem Repeat (Y-STR) DNA, which matched Lane’s paternal-line nephew.
To identify Fevold’s remains, scientists from DoD and AFDIL used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including, mitochondrial DNA, which matched Fevold’s maternal-line niece.
To identify Swalwell’s remains scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including, mitochondrial DNA, which matched Swalwell’s maternal-line sister and niece.
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.dpa
Pfc. George L. Rights
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | July 31, 2015
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Rights)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pfc. George L. Rights, 23, of Winston-Salem, N.C., will be buried Aug. 9, in his hometown. In February 1951, Rights and elements of Battery B, 15th Field Artillery (FA) Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division (ID), were supporting the Republic of South Korea when the 15th FA was attacked by Chinese forces near Hoengsong, South Korea. Elements of the 2ID suffered more than 200 casualties, and more than 100 men were taken as prisoners during this attack. Following the battle, Rights was reported as missing in action.
In 1953, during a prisoner of war exchange historically known as Operation Big Switch, returning American soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war reported that Rights had been captured by Chinese forces, and died in May 1951, in a prisoner of war camp, known as Bean Camp, in Suan, North Korea.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea turned over to the U.S. 208 boxes believed to contain the remains of more than 400 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents turned over at that time indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the area where Rights was believed to have died.
To identify Rights’ remains, scientists from the DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and two forms of DNA analysis including; mitochondrial DNA, which matched his brother and sister, and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA (Y-STR) analysis, which matched his brother and nephew.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
Donald A. Therkelsen
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | July 31, 2015
Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Therkelsen)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. Donald A. Therkelsen, 23, of Chicago, will be buried Aug. 8, in Medical Lake, Washington. In July 1953, Therkelsen was assigned to Medical Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division (ID). On July 16, 1953, Chinese forces launched a massive attack, commonly known as the Battle of Kumsong, centered along the Kumsong River, North Korea. The attack caused Therkelsen and elements of the 3rd ID to withdraw to a more defensible position. Therkelsen was reported missing in action July 17, 1953.
In June 1955, a military board interviewed three U.S. soldiers who all stated that Therkelsen died while providing aid to a fallen soldier during the battle. Based on this information, the military review board amended Therkelsen status to killed in action. His remains were not among those returned by Chinese forces during Operation Glory in 1954.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea turned over to the U.S. 208 boxes of human remains believed to represent more than 400 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war. North Korean documents, turned over with some of the boxes, indicated that some of the remains were recovered from the vicinity where Therkelsen was believed to have died.
To identify Therkelsen’s remains, scientists from the DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence, chest radiography analysis, and mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched his cousins.
Today, more than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American teams.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
2nd Lt. Edward F. Barker
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | July 23, 2015
Airman Missing From WWII Accounted For (Barker)
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that a U.S. serviceman, missing from World War II, has been identified and is being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Edward F. Barker, 21, of Herkimer, N.Y., will be buried Aug. 1, in his hometown. On Sept. 30, 1944, Barker was the pilot of an P-47D Thunderbolt that failed to return from a training mission in Papua New Guinea. The aircraft was last seen flying north-northwest of Finschhafen, and all search efforts failed to locate Barker and the aircraft. Barker was reported as missing when he failed to return after the mission. A military review board later amended his status to presumed dead.
In 1962, a U.S. military team discovered P-47D aircraft wreckage in the mountains of the Huan Peninsula in Morobe Province. The aircraft was correlated to Barker; however, the team found no evidence of the pilot.
From Jan. 22-25, 2002, a Department of Defense (DoD) team located the crash site, but no remains of the pilot were discovered during the survey of the site.
In late 2012, another DoD team began excavating the site. The team recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage, military gear and personal effects.
To identify Barker’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including mitochondrial DNA, which matched his niece and nephew.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.
Pvt. Arthur H. Kelder
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | July 13, 2015
Soldier Missing From WWII Accounted For (Kelder)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that a U.S. serviceman, missing from World War II, has been identified and is being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Pvt. Arthur H. Kelder, 26, of McHenry, Ill., will be buried July 18, in Chicago. On Dec. 8, 1941, Kelder was assigned to the Philippine Department, U.S. Army Forces in the Far East, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. Kelder and his unit cared for those wounded in intense fighting until May 6, 1942, when the U.S. fortress of Corregidor fell, and the Philippines fell under control of Japanese forces. 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. Kelder 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. On Nov. 19, 1942, 14 Americans, including Kelder, were reported to have died and been buried by their fellow prisoners in a common grave in a local camp cemetery in Cabanatuan.
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 Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, a permanent American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery in the Philippines.
In 2014, after the Kelder family had requested the disinterment of remains they believed to be Kelder, the Department of Defense determined that in order to apply its modern identification technologies to the Kelder case and enhance the possibility of identification, 10 graves in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial associated with Kelder’s loss would have to be exhumed. Kelder’s DNA was identified in 3 of the 10 sets of remains disinterred.
To identify Kelder’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used the available evidence and forensic identification tools, including mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA (Y-STR), which matched the DNA samples provided by his cousins.
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 or call (703) 699-1420.