The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Sergeant White S. Goings Jr., 22, of Auburn, Nebraska, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for June 27, 2023.
In late 1942, Goings was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron (Bomb Sq), 19th Bombardment Group (Bomb Gp), 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. Goings 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, Goings died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.
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. Twenty-two sets of remains from Common Grave 312 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Goings’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) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Goings’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Goings will be buried in Auburn, Nebraska, on July 26, 2024.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:15:462025-04-04 17:15:47Sergeant White S. Goings Jr.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. Doyle W. Sexton, 23, of Salt Lake City, Utah, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for July 13, 2023.
In late 1942, Sexton was a member of the Headquarters Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 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. Sexton 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, Sexton died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.
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. Twelve sets of remains from Common Grave 312 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Sexton’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) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Sexton’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Sexton 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.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:15:152025-04-04 17:15:17Pvt. Doyle W. Sexton
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Henry C. Wade, 24, of Decatur, Kentucky, killed during World War II, was accounted for May 11, 2023.
In November 1944, Wade was assigned to Company K, 3d Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, as an infantryman. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near the Germeter-Hürtgen Road where they encountered heavy resistance. Fighting raged for several days, during whichWade was killed in action. Due to the tactical situation his remains were not immediately recovered. He was declared non-recoverable December 1951.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen Forest area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-4462 Neuville, possibly belonged to an American soldier killed near the town of Hürtgen in November 1944, such as Wade. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1949, were disinterred in June 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Wade’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.
Wade’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margarten, Netherlands, 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.
Wade will be buried Nov. 29, 2023, in Russell Springs, Kentucky.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:14:452025-04-04 17:14:47Pvt. 1st Class Henry C. Wade
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Army Staff Sgt. Robert G, Rudd, 34, of Gatesville, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for June 20, 2022.
In the early fall of 1944, Rudd was assigned to Company C, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2D Infantry Division. On Jan. 30, Rudd was killed during the Battle of the Bulge when his company attacked heavily fortified enemy forces near the town of Rocherath, Belgium. Due to intense fighting and fierce artillery shelling, Rudd’s body was unrecoverable and the War Department a Report of Death on Feb. 20, 1945.
In 2017, after reviewing information provided by Belgian and American researchers, DPAA historians analyzed evidence related to several sets of remains initially recovered by Belgian locals in the Elsenbuchel Forest that had been interred at what is now the Ardennes American Cemetery in 1949, including unknown remains X-3144 Neuville. Following an interdisciplinary analysis by DPAA historical and scientific staff, the X-3144 remains were disinterred from Ardennes American Cemetery in 2021 for comparison with a list of candidates including Rudd.
To identify Rudd’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and dental records. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Rudd’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Rudd will be buried in Belton, Texas, on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:14:072025-04-04 17:14:09Staff Sgt. Robert G, Rudd
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Woodrow F. Gerdes, 31, of St. Louis, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 25, 2023.
In November 1944, Gerdes was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His battalion had been tasked with advancing on the enemy within the Raffelsbrand, near the town of Germeter, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest. During intense fighting and heavy artillery fire, Gerdes was reported missing in action on Nov. 9. German forces never reported him as a prisoner of war, nor did U.S. Army officials learn any details of his fate. With no evidence that he survived the fighting, Army officials eventually determined he was killed in action.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to account for Gerdes’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1951.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-4507 Neuville, recovered from a foxhole near Raffelsbrand in April 1947, possibly belonged to Gerdes. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1949, were disinterred in June 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Gerdes’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Gerdes’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, 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.
Gerdes will be buried in St. Louis, Missouri, on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:13:262025-04-04 17:13:28Staff Sgt. Woodrow F. Gerdes
Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (Dickman, C.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Charles A. Dickman, 17, of Cashton, Wisconsin, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for June 20, 2023.
In July 1950, Dickman was a member of Mike Company, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in defensive actions north of Chochiwon, South Korea, on July 12. Due to intense fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 13, 1953.
After regaining control of Chochiwon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Taejon. One set of remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-146 Taejon, recovered in the vicinity of the Kum River, South Korea. A tentative association was made between X-146 and Dickman, but definitive proof could not be found, and X-146 was determined to be unidentifiable. The remains were sent to Hawaii 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. On July 15, 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-146 Taejon as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
To identify Dickman’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.
Dickman’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.
Dickman will be buried in Cashton, Wisconsin, on Oct. 21, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:13:002025-04-04 17:13:01Pvt. 1st Class Charles A. Dickman
USS California Sailor Accounted for from WWII (Galaszewski, S.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 2nd Class Stanley C. Galaszewski, 29, of Steubenville, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for on May 23, 2022.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Galaszewski was assigned to the battleship USS California, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS California sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it catch fire and slowly flood. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 104 crewmen, including Galaszewski.
From December 1941 to April 1942, 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 39 men from the USS California at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified the 25 Unknowns who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Galaszewski.
In 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed the 25 USS California Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Galaszewski’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Galaszewski’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.
Galaszewski will be buried on Nov. 3, 2023 in Steubenville, Ohio.
For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Service Casualty office at (800) 443-9298.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:12:312025-04-04 17:12:33Seaman 2nd Class Stanley C. Galaszewski
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Gilbert H. Myers, 27, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 10, 2023.
In the summer of 1943, Myers was assigned to the 381st Bombardment Squadron, 310th Bombardment Group, in the Mediterranean Theater. On July 10, while serving as a co-pilot of a B-25 Mitchell, Myers’ aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire while conducting a bombing mission over Sicily. Myers’s remains were not recovered, and he was subsequently declared missing in action.
In late 1944, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) researchers discovered that Italian residents of Sciacca, found a body belonging to the B-25 pilot at a crash site. AGRS investigators at the time indicated that they found some remains of the wreckage, but did not locate any additional losses. Later in 1947, investigators conducted search and recovery operations near Sciacca, but were unable to locate anything linking back to Myers.
In 2021 and 2022, DPAA and partner organization personnel from the Cranfield University Recovery and Identification of Conflict Team returned to Sciacca. There they were able to recover additional plane wreckage pieces, as well as human remains from the crash site. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for examination and identification.
To identify Myers’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), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Myers’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Myers will be buried on Nov 10, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Florida.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:11:582025-04-04 17:12:002nd Lt. Gilbert H. Myers
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. James A. Hurt, 25, of East St. Louis, Illinois, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 21, 2023.
In 1942, Hurt was a member of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Forces, 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. Hurt 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, Hurt died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.
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. Twelve sets of remains from Common Grave 312 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Hurt’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) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Hurt’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Hurt will be buried on October 28, 2023, in Fairview, Illinois.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:11:242025-04-04 17:11:26Cpl. James A. Hurt
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Tech Sgt. Leonard J. Dettloff 26, of Detroit, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for May 5, 2023.
In November 1944, Dettloff was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was killed in action on Nov. 10. Due to the tactical situation, his remains could not be immediately recovered.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Dettloff’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in October 1951.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-8118 St. Avold, recovered from Germeter and Hürtgen possibly belonged to Dettloff. The remains, which had been buried in Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Saint-Avold, France, in 1949, were disinterred in 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification. While analyzing X-8118, DPAA scientists also examined X-8122 St. Avold, had been recovered commingled with X-8118.
To identify Dettloff’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) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Dettloff’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, 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.
Dettloff will be buried in Holly, Michigan on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
https://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpg00adminhttps://pow-mia-kia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-300x200.jpgadmin2025-04-04 17:10:572025-04-04 17:10:59Tech Sgt. Leonard J. Dettloff
Sergeant White S. Goings Jr.
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Nov. 7, 2023
Airman Accounted for from WWII (Goings Jr, W.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Sergeant White S. Goings Jr., 22, of Auburn, Nebraska, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for June 27, 2023.
In late 1942, Goings was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron (Bomb Sq), 19th Bombardment Group (Bomb Gp), 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. Goings 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, Goings died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.
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. Twenty-two sets of remains from Common Grave 312 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Goings’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) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Goings’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Goings will be buried in Auburn, Nebraska, on July 26, 2024.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Pvt. Doyle W. Sexton
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Oct. 26, 2023
Airman Accounted for from WWII (Sexton, D.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. Doyle W. Sexton, 23, of Salt Lake City, Utah, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for July 13, 2023.
In late 1942, Sexton was a member of the Headquarters Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 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. Sexton 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, Sexton died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.
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. Twelve sets of remains from Common Grave 312 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Sexton’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) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Sexton’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Sexton 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.
Pvt. 1st Class Henry C. Wade
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Oct. 23, 2023
Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Wade, H.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Henry C. Wade, 24, of Decatur, Kentucky, killed during World War II, was accounted for May 11, 2023.
In November 1944, Wade was assigned to Company K, 3d Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, as an infantryman. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near the Germeter-Hürtgen Road where they encountered heavy resistance. Fighting raged for several days, during which Wade was killed in action. Due to the tactical situation his remains were not immediately recovered. He was declared non-recoverable December 1951.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen Forest area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-4462 Neuville, possibly belonged to an American soldier killed near the town of Hürtgen in November 1944, such as Wade. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1949, were disinterred in June 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Wade’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.
Wade’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margarten, Netherlands, 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.
Wade will be buried Nov. 29, 2023, in Russell Springs, Kentucky.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Staff Sgt. Robert G, Rudd
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Oct. 23, 2023
Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Rudd, R.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Army Staff Sgt. Robert G, Rudd, 34, of Gatesville, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for June 20, 2022.
In the early fall of 1944, Rudd was assigned to Company C, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2D Infantry Division. On Jan. 30, Rudd was killed during the Battle of the Bulge when his company attacked heavily fortified enemy forces near the town of Rocherath, Belgium. Due to intense fighting and fierce artillery shelling, Rudd’s body was unrecoverable and the War Department a Report of Death on Feb. 20, 1945.
In 2017, after reviewing information provided by Belgian and American researchers, DPAA historians analyzed evidence related to several sets of remains initially recovered by Belgian locals in the Elsenbuchel Forest that had been interred at what is now the Ardennes American Cemetery in 1949, including unknown remains X-3144 Neuville. Following an interdisciplinary analysis by DPAA historical and scientific staff, the X-3144 remains were disinterred from Ardennes American Cemetery in 2021 for comparison with a list of candidates including Rudd.
To identify Rudd’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and dental records. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Rudd’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Rudd will be buried in Belton, Texas, on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Staff Sgt. Woodrow F. Gerdes
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Oct. 16, 2023
Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Gerdes, W.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Woodrow F. Gerdes, 31, of St. Louis, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 25, 2023.
In November 1944, Gerdes was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His battalion had been tasked with advancing on the enemy within the Raffelsbrand, near the town of Germeter, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest. During intense fighting and heavy artillery fire, Gerdes was reported missing in action on Nov. 9. German forces never reported him as a prisoner of war, nor did U.S. Army officials learn any details of his fate. With no evidence that he survived the fighting, Army officials eventually determined he was killed in action.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to account for Gerdes’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1951.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-4507 Neuville, recovered from a foxhole near Raffelsbrand in April 1947, possibly belonged to Gerdes. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1949, were disinterred in June 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Gerdes’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Gerdes’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, 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.
Gerdes will be buried in St. Louis, Missouri, on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Pvt. 1st Class Charles A. Dickman
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Oct. 2, 2023
Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (Dickman, C.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Charles A. Dickman, 17, of Cashton, Wisconsin, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for June 20, 2023.
In July 1950, Dickman was a member of Mike Company, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in defensive actions north of Chochiwon, South Korea, on July 12. Due to intense fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 13, 1953.
After regaining control of Chochiwon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Taejon. One set of remains recovered during this period was designated Unknown X-146 Taejon, recovered in the vicinity of the Kum River, South Korea. A tentative association was made between X-146 and Dickman, but definitive proof could not be found, and X-146 was determined to be unidentifiable. The remains were sent to Hawaii 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. On July 15, 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-146 Taejon as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory, for analysis.
To identify Dickman’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.
Dickman’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.
Dickman will be buried in Cashton, Wisconsin, on Oct. 21, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Seaman 2nd Class Stanley C. Galaszewski
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Oct. 2, 2023
USS California Sailor Accounted for from WWII (Galaszewski, S.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 2nd Class Stanley C. Galaszewski, 29, of Steubenville, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for on May 23, 2022.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Galaszewski was assigned to the battleship USS California, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS California sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it catch fire and slowly flood. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 104 crewmen, including Galaszewski.
From December 1941 to April 1942, 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 39 men from the USS California at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified the 25 Unknowns who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Galaszewski.
In 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed the 25 USS California Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Galaszewski’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Galaszewski’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.
Galaszewski will be buried on Nov. 3, 2023 in Steubenville, Ohio.
For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Service Casualty office at (800) 443-9298.
2nd Lt. Gilbert H. Myers
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Oct. 2, 2023
Pilot Accounted for from WWII (Myers, G.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Gilbert H. Myers, 27, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 10, 2023.
In the summer of 1943, Myers was assigned to the 381st Bombardment Squadron, 310th Bombardment Group, in the Mediterranean Theater. On July 10, while serving as a co-pilot of a B-25 Mitchell, Myers’ aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire while conducting a bombing mission over Sicily. Myers’s remains were not recovered, and he was subsequently declared missing in action.
In late 1944, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) researchers discovered that Italian residents of Sciacca, found a body belonging to the B-25 pilot at a crash site. AGRS investigators at the time indicated that they found some remains of the wreckage, but did not locate any additional losses. Later in 1947, investigators conducted search and recovery operations near Sciacca, but were unable to locate anything linking back to Myers.
In 2021 and 2022, DPAA and partner organization personnel from the Cranfield University Recovery and Identification of Conflict Team returned to Sciacca. There they were able to recover additional plane wreckage pieces, as well as human remains from the crash site. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for examination and identification.
To identify Myers’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), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Myers’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Myers will be buried on Nov 10, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Cpl. James A. Hurt
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Sept. 27, 2023
Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Hurt, J.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. James A. Hurt, 25, of East St. Louis, Illinois, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 21, 2023.
In 1942, Hurt was a member of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Forces, 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. Hurt 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, Hurt died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.
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. Twelve sets of remains from Common Grave 312 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Hurt’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) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Hurt’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Hurt will be buried on October 28, 2023, in Fairview, Illinois.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Tech Sgt. Leonard J. Dettloff
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Sept. 25, 2023
Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Dettloff, L.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Tech Sgt. Leonard J. Dettloff 26, of Detroit, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for May 5, 2023.
In November 1944, Dettloff was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was killed in action on Nov. 10. Due to the tactical situation, his remains could not be immediately recovered.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Dettloff’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in October 1951.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-8118 St. Avold, recovered from Germeter and Hürtgen possibly belonged to Dettloff. The remains, which had been buried in Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Saint-Avold, France, in 1949, were disinterred in 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification. While analyzing X-8118, DPAA scientists also examined X-8122 St. Avold, had been recovered commingled with X-8118.
To identify Dettloff’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) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Dettloff’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, 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.
Dettloff will be buried in Holly, Michigan on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.