Press Release | July 27, 2011

Soldier Missing In Action From WWII Identified (Kenner)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pfc. Harold D. Kenner, 20, of Scranton, Penn., will be buried on July 29 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. In late September 1944, Kenner’s unit, the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, landed in Nijmegen, Netherlands, as part of the Allied Operation Market Garden. The men were soon engaged against enemy forces near Kiekberg Woods—approximately 7 miles southeast of Nijmegen. On Sept. 30, 1944, Kenner was listed as missing in action from the battle.

Following World War II, the Army Graves Registration Service (AGRS) conducted investigations and searches for the remains of U.S. servicemen—including Kenner—lost throughout Europe. After extensive searches of the area, the AGRS concluded his remains were unrecoverable.

In late 1987, an anonymous source contacted the Netherlands National Territorial Command regarding human remains found in the Kiekberg Woods. A preliminary assessment conducted by a Dutch museum indicated the remains could be associated with 1st Lt. Joseph F. Myers, 401st Glider Regiment, one of up to 62 men lost during the same battle as Kenner. In 1992, the remains were transferred to U.S. authorities. In 1998, based on laboratory analysis and DNA testing, the remains could not be associated with Myers and were returned to the Dutch in 2001. In 2006, U.S. authorities requested the remains be returned for further examination and comparison with other soldiers missing from the Kiekberg Woods battle.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA– which matched that of Kenner’s cousins— in the identification of his remains.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died. At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000 Americans. Today, more than 73,000 are unaccounted-for from the conflict.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

Press Release | July 25, 2011

Soldier Missing In Action From WWII Identified (Corsini)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pfc. Victor P. Corsini, 23, of Girard, Kan., will be buried on July 28 in Las Vegas. On Dec. 10, 1944, Corsini’s unit, the 414th Infantry Regiment, was driving east along the Roer River when an intense battle erupted near the town of Pier, Germany. Corsini was killed the next day when an enemy artillery shell burst in the treetops above him. The ongoing German counterattack prevented his remains from being recovered.

Following World War II, the Army Graves Registration Service conducted investigations and searches for the remains of U.S. servicemen lost throughout Europe. In 1951, after several extensive searches of the area, concluded his remains were unrecoverable.

In May 2010, a German power company excavating near Pier, Germany, uncovered human remains and U.S. military equipment including a military identification tag bearing Corsini’s name. The German War Graves Commission facilitated the transfer of the remains to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC used dental comparisons in the identification of Corsini’s remains.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died. At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000 Americans. Today, more than 73,000 are unaccounted-for from the conflict.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

Press Release | July 22, 2011

Soldier Missing From Korean War Identified (Sund)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Cpl. James N. Sund, 28, of Oklee, Minn., will be buried on July 26 in Highlanding, Minn. After the 1953 armistice, it was learned from surviving POWs that he had been captured in January 1951, marched north to a POW camp in Suan County, North Korea, and died while in captivity when allies attacked the camp in April 1951.

Between 1991-94, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen. North Korean documents turned over with one of the boxes indicated that the remains, contained in the box, were exhumed near Suan County. This location correlates with Sund’s last known location.

Analysts from DPMO and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) developed case leads with information spanning more than 58 years. Through interviews with surviving POW eyewitnesses, experts validated circumstances surrounding the soldier’s captivity and death, confirming wartime documentation of his loss.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of his sisters – to identify Sund’s remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

Press Release | July 20, 2011

U.S. Soldier MIA From Korean War Identified (Arce)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Cpl. Charles Arce, 19, of Brooklyn, N.Y., will be buried July 20 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. On Nov. 1, 1950, Arce was assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, occupying a defensive position in North Korea, along the Nammyon River, near a bend known as the “Camel’s Head.” Two enemy elements attacked the 1st Cavalry Division’s lines, collapsing their perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. Almost 400 men, including Arce, were reported missing or killed in action following the battle.

In 2007, North Korea gave the United States six boxes believed to contain the remains of U.S. servicemen. Information provided with the boxes indicated the remains were exhumed in November 2006 near Unsan County, North Pyongan Province. This location correlates with the location of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment on Nov. 2, 1950.

Among forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Arce’s sister and brother—in the identification.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

Press Release | July 18, 2011

Missing WWII Soldiers Identified (Harris, Hellums, Owens)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Army Pfc. Lawrence N. Harris, of Elkins, W.V., Cpl. Judge C. Hellums, of Paris, Miss., and Pvt. Donald D. Owens, of Cleveland, will be buried as a group, in a single casket, on July 20 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. In late September 1944, their unit, the 773rd Tank Battalion, was fighting its way east to France’s eastern border, clearing German forces out of the Parroy Forest near Lunéville. For its combat service, the 773rd received the Presidential Unit Citation as the battalion had destroyed 125 enemy tanks by war’s end. On Oct. 9, 1944, in the final battle for control of the region, Hellums, Harris, Owens and two other soldiers were attacked by enemy fire in their M-10 Tank Destroyer. Two men survived with serious injuries but Harris, Hellums and Owens were reported to have been killed. Evidence at the time indicated the remains of the men had been destroyed in the attack and were neither recovered nor buried near the location.

In November 1946, a French soldier working in the Parroy Forest found debris associated with an M-10 vehicle and human remains, which were turned over to the American Graves Registration Command. The remains were buried as unknowns in what is now known as the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. A year later the AGRC returned to the Parroy Forest to conduct interviews and search for additional remains. Investigators noted at that time that all remains of U.S. soldiers had reportedly been removed in the last two years and that the crew was likely buried elsewhere as unknowns.

In 2003, a French citizen exploring the Parroy Forest discovered human remains and an identification bracelet engraved with Hellums’ name, from a site he had probed occasionally since 1998. The information was eventually sent to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). In April 2006, the man turned over the items to a JPAC team working in Europe. A few months later a second JPAC team returned to the site and recovered more human remains, personal effects and an identification tag for Owens.

Historians at DPMO and JPAC continued their research on the burials at the Ardennes Cemetery, and drew a correlation to those unknowns removed from the 1944 battle site. In early 2008 JPAC disinterred these remains and began their forensic review.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC used dental comparisons for the men and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA, which matched that of each soldier’s relatives in the identification of their remains.

More than 400,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II died. At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover, identify and bury approximately 79,000 Americans. Today, more than 72,000 remain unaccounted-for from the conflict.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, call 571-422-9059 or visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo.