Press Release | May 30, 2023

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Adams, L.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Leonard E. Adams, 25, of Dana, Indiana, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 20, 2022.

In January 1945, Adams was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3^rd Battalion, 157^th Infantry Regiment, 45^th Infantry Division. Elements of the unit were supporting five companies attempting to secure terrain near Reipertswiller, France, when they were surrounded by German forces while being pounded by artillery and mortar fire. The surrounded companies were given the order to attempt a break-out on Jan. 20, but only two men made it through German lines. The rest were either captured or killed. Adams was among those killed, but his body could not be recovered because of the fighting.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Reipertswiller, finding 37 unidentified sets of American remains, but it was unable to identify any of them as Adams. He was declared non-recoverable on May 4, 1951.

DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found that Unknown X-6372 Neuville, buried at Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, could be associated with Adams. X-6372 was disinterred in July 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.

To identify Adams’ 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.

Adams’ 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.

Adams will be buried in Radcliff, Kentucky on a date yet to be determined.

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

Press Release | May 24, 2023

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Allen, S.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Naval Reserve Ensign Stanley W. Allen, 25, of Brunswick, Maine, killed during World War II, was accounted for on June 14, 2021.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Allen 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 Allen.

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 Allen.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.

To identify Allen’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

Allen’s name is recorded on the Courts 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.

Allen will be buried on July 18, 2023, in Augusta, Maine.

For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Personnel Command Public Affairs Office at (901) 874-2438.

Press Release | May 22, 2023

Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Litherland, J.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2^nd Lt. James Litherland, 25, of South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 16, 2023.

In February of 1944, Litherland was assigned to the 359th Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy). On February 28, Litherland was co-piloting a B-17F Flying Fortress that was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German V-2 rocket site in Bois-Coquerel, France.

Before the plane crashed near the city of Le Translay, France three of the airmen parachuted successfully while the other seven crew members, including Litherland, were still on board.

In 1945 American investigators reviewed German documents detailing American planes and their crew during the war. Those documents revealed six sets of remains were recovered near the crash site Le Translay and were buried in the English World War I Memorial Cemetery at Abbeville, France on March 2, 1944. In June 1945 American Graves Registration team disinterred the six sets of remains from Abbeville and interred them in the United States Military Cemetery at St. Andre, France. Five of the six sets of remains were identified the one unknown set of remains was designated as X-452 St. Andre.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In March 1947 AGRC investigators identified X-452 as being associated with Litherland but were unable to identify him and X-452 was transferred to Suresnes American Cemetery, France.  Litherland was declared non-recoverable Dec. 26, 1950.

In September 2017, a DPAA Investigation Team traveled to Le Translay to locate Litherland’s crash site; in August 2018, a DPAA Recovery Team recovered material evidence and osseous remains from the site, which the DPAA laboratory accessioned for analysis. In October 2019, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed the unknown remains designated X-452 St. Andre, believed to be associated with Litherland, from Suresnes American Cemetery.

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

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

Litherland will be buried at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on a date yet to be determined.

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

Press Release | May 18, 2023

Tanker Accounted For From World War II (Vinyard, J.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Joe A. Vinyard, 23, of Loudon County, Tennessee, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 9, 2022.

In December 1944, Vinyard was assigned to Company A, 774^th Tank Battalion, as a crewmember on an M4 Sherman tank. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Gey, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when his tank was hit by an 88-mm round. The crew bailed out of the tank, but when they regrouped a few minutes later, Vinyard was missing. One of the other crewmen reported seeing Vinyard exit the tank, but, even after several days, no one could find him. Two later inspections of the destroyed tank reported finding no remains inside. The Germans never reported Vinyard as a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death in April 1946.

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. In the fall of 1947, remains were found in two destroyed tanks in or near Gey. However, they could not be identified. Vinyard was declared non-recoverable in December 1950.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-6669 Neuville, recovered from one of the burned-out tanks in Gey possibly belonged to Vinyard. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, were disinterred in July 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.

To identify Vinyard’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.

Vinyard’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.

Vinyard will be buried in Maryville, Tennessee on a date yet to be determined.

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

Press Release | May 15, 2023

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Brinks, W.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Willard H. Brinks, 24, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 20, 2022.

In November 1942, Brinks was assigned to the Company K, 3rd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat to Port Moresby, the Allied center of communications in the area, Brinks’ unit attempted to flank the enemy defensive lines stretched across the Sanananda Track in northern Papua. Brinks was reported as killed in action on Nov. 22, the first day of the Allied attack.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. A number of remains were found in the area where Brinks was killed, but none could be positively identified as him. He was declared non-recoverable Sept. 7, 1949.

The unidentified remains from Papua New Guinea were eventually interred as Unknowns at Fort McKinley Cemetery, now Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines.

DPAA predecessor organizations began researching and recovering service members from Papua New Guinea in 1995. Years of investigation led to the disinterment of a set of remains from Manila American Cemetery, X-70 Finschhafen #2 in November 2016. The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.

To identify Brinks’ 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.

Brinks’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Brinks will be buried on May 19, 2023, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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