The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Air Force Capt. Fredrick M. Hall, 25, of Waynesville, North Carolina, reported missing during the Vietnam War, was accounted for March 23, 2023.
On April 12, 1969, 1st Lt. Hall was the navigator on a F-4D Phantom II assigned to 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 336th Tactical Fighter Wing. Hall, his pilot, Colonel De Soto and another aircraft were returning from a cancelled strike mission near Quang Nam Province, Vietnam when both aircraft ascended into heavy cloud cover. The lead aircraft noticed Hall’s plane was not in sight and immediately began an aerial search without success. Hall was promoted to Captain while in a missing status.
A search and rescue airborne mission were deployed and located Hall’s crash site, there were no signs of the crew; however due to the hostile activity in the area prevented a ground investigation of the site.
In May 1995, a Joint Field Activity team located the crash site in the Giang District, Quang Nam Province and sent another joint team in July 1996 to recover evidence. A number of DPAA investigation and recovery efforts took place between 1998-2020, with a March 2021 recovery mission conducted by the host nation, finding possible osseous remains and material evidence. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Hall’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Hall’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hall will be buried in Waynesville, North Carolina on Oct. 10, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Air Force Casualty Office at (800)-531-5803.
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 16:28:302025-04-04 16:28:32Capt. Fredrick M. Hall
Pilot Accounted For From Vietnam War (De Soto, E.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Air Force Colonel Ernest L. De Soto, 37, of San Francisco, California, reported missing during the Vietnam War, was accounted for March 23, 2023.
On April 12, 1969, Lt. Col. De Soto was the pilot of a F-4D Phantom II assigned to 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 336th Tactical Fighter Wing. De Soto, his navigator Captain Hall and another aircraft were returning from a cancelled strike mission near Quang Nam Province, Vietnam when both aircraft ascended into heavy cloud cover. The lead aircraft noticed De Soto’s plane was not in sight and immediately began an aerial search without success. De Soto was promoted to Colonel while in a missing status.
A search and rescue airborne mission were deployed and located De Soto’s crash site, there were no signs of the crew; however due to the hostile activity in the area prevented a ground investigation of the site.
In May 1995, a Joint Field Activity team located the crash site in the Giang District, Quang Nam Province and sent another joint team in July 1996 to recover evidence. A number of DPAA investigation and recovery efforts took place between 1998-2020, with a March 2021 recovery mission conducted by the host nation, finding possible osseous remains and material evidence. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify De Soto’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.
De Soto’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
De Soto will be buried in Burlingame, California on June 30, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Air Force Casualty Office at (800)-531-5803.
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Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Koloski, C.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Clinton P. Koloski, 21, of City Point, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 12, 2022.
In January 1945, Koloski was assigned to Company A, 36th Engineer Combat Regiment. On Jan. 14, the unit was on patrol near Obermuhlthal, France, when it encountered German soldiers in fortified positions. At some point during the fighting, Koloski was killed, but historical records do not indicate exactly where. Due to the fighting, his body was unable to be immediately recovered.
Beginning in 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Obermuhlthal, finding the remains of an American Soldier near remains of another 36th Engineer Combat Regiment Soldier who was killed the same day as Koloski. These remains, designated X-4890, were tentatively associated with Koloski, but an AGRC investigator believed the dental association between Koloski and the remains was questionable, so X-4890 was buried as an Unknown at what is today Rhône American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site near Draguignan, France, in October 1951.
In 2006 and 2007, Koloski’s identification tags were found in the forest near Obermuhlthal and reported to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), a DPAA predecessor organization. JPAC sent an investigation team to the site in October 2009 and DPAA sent a recovery team in April 2016, but no other evidence associated with Koloski was found.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Obermuhlthal, and found that X-4890 could be associated with Koloski based on where the remains and ID tags were recovered. X-6373 was disinterred in February 2020 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
To identify Koloski’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material and 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.
Koloski’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Koloski will be buried on June 30, 2023, in Beloit, Wisconsin.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Malcolm, H.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Howard G. Malcolm, 23, of Mount Vernon, Illinois, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for Oct. 25, 2022.
In late 1950, Malcolm was a member of Headquarters Company, Ninth Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after his unit’s withdrawal from Kunu-ri to Sunchon, in North Korea. In 1953, several POWs returned during Operation Big Switch reported Malcolm had been a prisoner of war and died in August 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #5.
In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #5, to the United Nations Command. However, Malcolm’s name did not appear on any of the transfer rosters and the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, did not associate any repatriated remains with him. Malcolm was determined non-recoverable in October 1955.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In August 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14357, a set of remains returned during Operation Glory, as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Malcolm’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis as well as chest radiograph comparison. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Malcolm’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, 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.
Malcolm will be buried in Mount Vernon, Illinois, on July 11, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Barlosky, L.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Leo J. Barlosky, 24, of Audenried, Pennsylvania, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 27, 2022.
In late 1941, Barlosky was a member of the 7th Chemical Company, Aviation, 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. Barlosky 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, Barlosky died July 27, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 225.
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. Three sets of remains from Common Grave 225 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 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Barlosky’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, Barlosky’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Barlosky will be buried in Arlington National Cemetary, on a date later to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Whipple, D.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. David S. Whipple, 23, of Plymouth, Indiana, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 15, 2022.
In late 1941, Whipple was a member of the 27th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base 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. Whipple 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, Whipple died July 26, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 225.
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. Three of the sets of remains from Common Grave 225 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In March 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Whipple’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, Whipple’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Whipple will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be later determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Lawrence, E.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 1st Class Elmer P. Lawrence, 25, of Park City, Kentucky, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Feb. 1, 2021.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Lawrence was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Lawrence.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Lawrence.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Lawrence’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Lawrence’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.
Lawrence will be buried on July 22, 2023, in Smiths Grove, Kentucky.
For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Personnel Command Public Affairs Office at (901) 874-2438.
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 16:25:312025-04-04 16:25:32Seaman 1st Class Elmer P. Lawrence
Airman Accounted For From World War II (Reitz, L.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Technical Sgt. Lawrence E. Reitz, 22, of Hoopeston, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for May 5, 2023.
In the summer of 1943, Reitz was assigned to 343d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Reitz was serving as a radio operator crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.
To identify Reitz’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.
Reitz’s name is recorded 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.
Reitz will be buried in Williamsport, Indiana, on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (DeBord, B.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Billy A. DeBord, 18, of Miamisburg, Ohio, who was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for April 28, 2023.
In July 1950, DeBord was a member of F Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on July 25 while his unit was engaged by the North Korean People’s Army near Yongdong, South Korea. Due to the 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. 31, 1953.
On April 17, 1951, the 565th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company recovered a set of remains designated Unknown X-945 near Yongdong. There was not enough identifying evidence to associate the remains with DeBord and were declared unidentifiable on April 15, 1955. 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 Oct. 21, 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-945 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify DeBord’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph comparison. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
DeBord’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.
DeBord will be buried in Miamisburg, Ohio on Nov. 11, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Gruwell, R.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. Robert R. Gruwell, 20, of Los Angeles, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 12, 2022.
In the summer of 1944, Gruwell was assigned to Company G, 3rd Battalion, 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team. On Aug. 15, Gruwell’s unit was part of Operation DRAGOON, the invasion of southern France to secure ports along France’s Mediterranean coast. Specifically, their orders were to prevent German troops from moving to the invasion beaches to fight back against the sea landings and to secure the area around LeMuy. Gruwell’s unit landed near Callian early in the morning, and he went missing sometime that day between Callian and LeMuy. He was never reported as a prisoner of war and no recovered remains were ever identified as him. On May 15, 1945, Gruwell’s status was changed to killed in action.
The American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was charged with recovering the remains of fallen service members in the European Theater following the war. Between July 1947 and October 1949, AGRC teams conducted several searches in the area where Gruwell went missing, but never found any remains that could be identified as him. He was declared non-recoverable on Aug. 1, 1951.
On Aug. 23, 1944, a team from the 11th U.S. Evacuation Hospital interred a set of remains designated X-23 Draguignan in what is now known as Rhône American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery in Draguignan, France. X-23 is believed to have died around Aug. 16 and was so badly burnt that he was unable to be identified.
DPAA historians continue to conduct research on those missing from Operation DRAGOON. Their analysis of X-23’s file led them to them to associate those remains as possibly belonging to three Soldiers, one of whom was Gruwell. X-23 was disinterred in February 2020 and sent to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
To identify Gruwell’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.
Gruwell’s name is recorded on the Wall of the Missing at the Brittany American Cemetery in Montjoie Saint Martin, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Gruwell will be buried in Riverside, California, on June 8, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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Capt. Fredrick M. Hall
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | June 23, 2023
Airman Accounted For From Vietnam War (Hall, F.)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Air Force Capt. Fredrick M. Hall, 25, of Waynesville, North Carolina, reported missing during the Vietnam War, was accounted for March 23, 2023.
On April 12, 1969, 1st Lt. Hall was the navigator on a F-4D Phantom II assigned to 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 336th Tactical Fighter Wing. Hall, his pilot, Colonel De Soto and another aircraft were returning from a cancelled strike mission near Quang Nam Province, Vietnam when both aircraft ascended into heavy cloud cover. The lead aircraft noticed Hall’s plane was not in sight and immediately began an aerial search without success. Hall was promoted to Captain while in a missing status.
A search and rescue airborne mission were deployed and located Hall’s crash site, there were no signs of the crew; however due to the hostile activity in the area prevented a ground investigation of the site.
In May 1995, a Joint Field Activity team located the crash site in the Giang District, Quang Nam Province and sent another joint team in July 1996 to recover evidence. A number of DPAA investigation and recovery efforts took place between 1998-2020, with a March 2021 recovery mission conducted by the host nation, finding possible osseous remains and material evidence. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Hall’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Hall’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hall will be buried in Waynesville, North Carolina on Oct. 10, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Air Force Casualty Office at (800)-531-5803.
Colonel Ernest L. De Soto
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | June 23, 2023
Pilot Accounted For From Vietnam War (De Soto, E.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Air Force Colonel Ernest L. De Soto, 37, of San Francisco, California, reported missing during the Vietnam War, was accounted for March 23, 2023.
On April 12, 1969, Lt. Col. De Soto was the pilot of a F-4D Phantom II assigned to 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 336th Tactical Fighter Wing. De Soto, his navigator Captain Hall and another aircraft were returning from a cancelled strike mission near Quang Nam Province, Vietnam when both aircraft ascended into heavy cloud cover. The lead aircraft noticed De Soto’s plane was not in sight and immediately began an aerial search without success. De Soto was promoted to Colonel while in a missing status.
A search and rescue airborne mission were deployed and located De Soto’s crash site, there were no signs of the crew; however due to the hostile activity in the area prevented a ground investigation of the site.
In May 1995, a Joint Field Activity team located the crash site in the Giang District, Quang Nam Province and sent another joint team in July 1996 to recover evidence. A number of DPAA investigation and recovery efforts took place between 1998-2020, with a March 2021 recovery mission conducted by the host nation, finding possible osseous remains and material evidence. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify De Soto’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.
De Soto’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
De Soto will be buried in Burlingame, California on June 30, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Air Force Casualty Office at (800)-531-5803.
Pfc. Clinton P. Koloski
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | June 22, 2023
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Koloski, C.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Clinton P. Koloski, 21, of City Point, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 12, 2022.
In January 1945, Koloski was assigned to Company A, 36th Engineer Combat Regiment. On Jan. 14, the unit was on patrol near Obermuhlthal, France, when it encountered German soldiers in fortified positions. At some point during the fighting, Koloski was killed, but historical records do not indicate exactly where. Due to the fighting, his body was unable to be immediately recovered.
Beginning in 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Obermuhlthal, finding the remains of an American Soldier near remains of another 36th Engineer Combat Regiment Soldier who was killed the same day as Koloski. These remains, designated X-4890, were tentatively associated with Koloski, but an AGRC investigator believed the dental association between Koloski and the remains was questionable, so X-4890 was buried as an Unknown at what is today Rhône American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site near Draguignan, France, in October 1951.
In 2006 and 2007, Koloski’s identification tags were found in the forest near Obermuhlthal and reported to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), a DPAA predecessor organization. JPAC sent an investigation team to the site in October 2009 and DPAA sent a recovery team in April 2016, but no other evidence associated with Koloski was found.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Obermuhlthal, and found that X-4890 could be associated with Koloski based on where the remains and ID tags were recovered. X-6373 was disinterred in February 2020 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
To identify Koloski’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material and 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.
Koloski’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Koloski will be buried on June 30, 2023, in Beloit, Wisconsin.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Sgt. Howard G. Malcolm
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | June 20, 2023
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Malcolm, H.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Howard G. Malcolm, 23, of Mount Vernon, Illinois, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for Oct. 25, 2022.
In late 1950, Malcolm was a member of Headquarters Company, Ninth Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after his unit’s withdrawal from Kunu-ri to Sunchon, in North Korea. In 1953, several POWs returned during Operation Big Switch reported Malcolm had been a prisoner of war and died in August 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #5.
In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #5, to the United Nations Command. However, Malcolm’s name did not appear on any of the transfer rosters and the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, did not associate any repatriated remains with him. Malcolm was determined non-recoverable in October 1955.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In August 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14357, a set of remains returned during Operation Glory, as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Malcolm’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis as well as chest radiograph comparison. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Malcolm’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, 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.
Malcolm will be buried in Mount Vernon, Illinois, on July 11, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Cpl. Leo J. Barlosky
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | June 15, 2023
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Barlosky, L.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Leo J. Barlosky, 24, of Audenried, Pennsylvania, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 27, 2022.
In late 1941, Barlosky was a member of the 7th Chemical Company, Aviation, 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. Barlosky 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, Barlosky died July 27, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 225.
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. Three sets of remains from Common Grave 225 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 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Barlosky’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, Barlosky’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Barlosky will be buried in Arlington National Cemetary, on a date later to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Pvt. David S. Whipple
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | June 14, 2023
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Whipple, D.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. David S. Whipple, 23, of Plymouth, Indiana, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 15, 2022.
In late 1941, Whipple was a member of the 27th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base 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. Whipple 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, Whipple died July 26, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 225.
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. Three of the sets of remains from Common Grave 225 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In March 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Whipple’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, Whipple’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Whipple will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, on a date to be later determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Seaman 1st Class Elmer P. Lawrence
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | June 6, 2023
USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Lawrence, E.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 1st Class Elmer P. Lawrence, 25, of Park City, Kentucky, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Feb. 1, 2021.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Lawrence was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Lawrence.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Lawrence.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Lawrence’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Lawrence’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.
Lawrence will be buried on July 22, 2023, in Smiths Grove, Kentucky.
For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Personnel Command Public Affairs Office at (901) 874-2438.
Technical Sgt. Lawrence E. Reitz
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | June 6, 2023
Airman Accounted For From World War II (Reitz, L.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Technical Sgt. Lawrence E. Reitz, 22, of Hoopeston, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for May 5, 2023.
In the summer of 1943, Reitz was assigned to 343d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Reitz was serving as a radio operator crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.
To identify Reitz’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.
Reitz’s name is recorded 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.
Reitz will be buried in Williamsport, Indiana, on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Pfc. Billy A. DeBord
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | May 31, 2023
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (DeBord, B.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Billy A. DeBord, 18, of Miamisburg, Ohio, who was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for April 28, 2023.
In July 1950, DeBord was a member of F Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on July 25 while his unit was engaged by the North Korean People’s Army near Yongdong, South Korea. Due to the 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. 31, 1953.
On April 17, 1951, the 565th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company recovered a set of remains designated Unknown X-945 near Yongdong. There was not enough identifying evidence to associate the remains with DeBord and were declared unidentifiable on April 15, 1955. 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 Oct. 21, 2019, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-945 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify DeBord’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph comparison. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
DeBord’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.
DeBord will be buried in Miamisburg, Ohio on Nov. 11, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Pvt. Robert R. Gruwell
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | May 30, 2023
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Gruwell, R.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. Robert R. Gruwell, 20, of Los Angeles, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 12, 2022.
In the summer of 1944, Gruwell was assigned to Company G, 3rd Battalion, 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team. On Aug. 15, Gruwell’s unit was part of Operation DRAGOON, the invasion of southern France to secure ports along France’s Mediterranean coast. Specifically, their orders were to prevent German troops from moving to the invasion beaches to fight back against the sea landings and to secure the area around LeMuy. Gruwell’s unit landed near Callian early in the morning, and he went missing sometime that day between Callian and LeMuy. He was never reported as a prisoner of war and no recovered remains were ever identified as him. On May 15, 1945, Gruwell’s status was changed to killed in action.
The American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was charged with recovering the remains of fallen service members in the European Theater following the war. Between July 1947 and October 1949, AGRC teams conducted several searches in the area where Gruwell went missing, but never found any remains that could be identified as him. He was declared non-recoverable on Aug. 1, 1951.
On Aug. 23, 1944, a team from the 11th U.S. Evacuation Hospital interred a set of remains designated X-23 Draguignan in what is now known as Rhône American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery in Draguignan, France. X-23 is believed to have died around Aug. 16 and was so badly burnt that he was unable to be identified.
DPAA historians continue to conduct research on those missing from Operation DRAGOON. Their analysis of X-23’s file led them to them to associate those remains as possibly belonging to three Soldiers, one of whom was Gruwell. X-23 was disinterred in February 2020 and sent to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
To identify Gruwell’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.
Gruwell’s name is recorded on the Wall of the Missing at the Brittany American Cemetery in Montjoie Saint Martin, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Gruwell will be buried in Riverside, California, on June 8, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.