Press Release | April 18, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Jerele, H.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Private 1st Class Harry Jerele, 26, of Berkeley, Illinois, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for December 20, 2023.

In summer 1942, Jerele was a member of the 192nd 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.  Jerele 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. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Jerele died December 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 804.

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. Two sets of remains from Common Grave 804 were identified, but the remaining two were declared unidentifiable, including those of Pfc. Jerele. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In early 2020, the remains associated with Common Grave 804 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

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

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

Pfc. Jerele will be buried in Elwood, Illinois, on October 6, 2024.

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

Press Release | April 17, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (Wilder, H.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Private 1st Class Harold D. Wilder, 19 of Pennington Gap, Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Feb. 17, 2023.

In the winter of 1950, PFC Wilder was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 11 after his unit took part in defensive actions while engaged with enemy forces north of Chochiwon. Unofficial enemy broadcasts stated PFC Wilder was killed in action while fighting 20 miles north of Taejon, South Korea, but his remains were never recovered or identified during or directly after the war.

In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-5139 Operation Glory. The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Wilder and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In 2019, DPAA disinterred X-5139, and after a decade of scientific advances and increased historical research, DPAA was able to positively associate X-5139 to Wilder.

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

PFC Wilder’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.

PFC Wilder will be buried in Pennington Gap, Virginia, on April 28, 2024.

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

Press Release | April 16, 2024

Airman Accounted for from WWII (McKeeman, K.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kenneth J. McKeeman, 23, of Brooklyn, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 18, 2023.

In early 1944, McKeeman was assigned to the 724th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater. On March 11, McKeeman, a bombardier onboard a B-24D “Liberator”, was killed in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Toulon, France. An eyewitness from another aircraft reported seeing McKeeman’s plane on fire and plummeting out of the sky, before eventually breaking apart and crashing into the sea. All 11 crewmembers were killed in the incident. German forces garrisoned in the area documented the crash site near Cape Cépet and recovered several sets of remains, which were then interred them in the Lagoubran Cemetery, France.

Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, exhumed 25 graves from the Lagoubran Cemetery. Among the recovered remains were some of McKeeman’s fellow crewmen, and four unknowns designated X-84, X-85, X-86 and X-92 Luynes. These unknowns were ultimately interred in Rhône American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.

In June 2019, DPAA historians and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel, exhumed X-85 from Rhône American Cemetery and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis where it was later determined the remains belonged to McKeeman.

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

TSgt. McKeeman’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Rhône American Cemetery, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

TSgt. McKeeman will be buried in Middletown, Connecticut, on June 7, 2024.

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

Press Release | April 5, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (Lopa, A.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class (Pfc.) Anthony J. Lopa, 17, of North Arlington, New Jersey, who was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for July 21, 2023.

In July 1950, Lopa was a member of Delta Battery, 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons (Self Propelled) Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was killed in action fighting the North Korean People’s Army along the Naktong River, in the vicinity of Yongsan-Myeon, South Korea, on August 31, 1950. Due to the intense fighting in the region, his body could not be recovered at that time.

A set of remains was recovered near Amp’yong, South Korea, in March 1951. They could not be initially identified and were designated X-2023 C Tanggok, and buried in the United Nations Cemetery Tanggok later that month. In August 1951, the Central Identification Unit Kokura in Japan began a reexamination of X-2023 C. They made several attempts between then and August 1954 before ultimately declaring the remains unidentifiable. All 848 unidentified sets of Korean War remains at CIU-Kokura were sent to Hawaii in 1956 where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In May 2021, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-2023 C as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Lopa’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.

Lopa’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.

Pfc. Lopa will be buried in Wrightstown, New Jersey, on a date to be determined.

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

Press Release | April 3, 2024

Airman Accounted for from WWII (Seiferheld, F.)

Washington  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Frank J. Seiferheld, 25, of New York, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for Feb. 12, 2024.

In January of 1945, Seiferheld was assigned to the 348th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations. On Jan 20, Seiferheld was the radio operator onboard a B-17 “Flying Fortress,” when it experienced engine trouble after departing Italy for a bombing raid on an oil depot near Regensburg, Germany. According to records of the mission, the pilot radioed that they were returning to the Tortorella Airfield without a fighter escort. The last sighting of Seiferheld’s aircraft was West of Udine, Italy, roughly 45 miles North of the Gulf of Trieste.

Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC discovered the remains of an unknown servicemember in the Gulf of Trieste, roughly 100 yards from the shoreline in Grado, Italy. At the time they were unable to identify Sgt. Seiferheld and the remains were interred in the Florence American Cemetery as Unknown X-83.

In 2018, DPAA investigators and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel exhumed the remains of X-83 for comparison with unresolved servicemembers. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.

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

Seiferheld’s name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Sgt. Seiferheld will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date and time to be determined by the family.

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