Press Release | Sept. 23, 2022

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Puopolo, J.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Joseph J. Puopolo, 19, of East Boston, Massachusetts, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for Aug. 23, 2022.

In late 1950, Puopolo was a member of C Battery, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Infantry Division Artillery, 8th U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after his unit attempted to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, four POWs who returned during Operation Big Switch reported Puopolo had been a prisoner of war and died in February 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. None were associated with Puopolo.

One set of remains disinterred from Camp #5 returned during Operation Glory was designated Unknown X-14430 and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In December 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14430 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

To identify Puopolo’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.

Puopolo’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s 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.

Puopolo will be buried in Malden, Massachusetts, at a date yet to be determined.

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

Press Release | Sept. 23, 2022

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Collier, G.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Garland W. Collier, 25, of Coleman, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for June 15, 2022.

In the fall of 1944, Collier was assigned to Headquarters Co., 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was reported killed in action during Operation MARKET GARDEN when his unit was attacked by German forces near Opheusden, The Netherlands. His body was unable to be recovered.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, conducted several searches of the area, but by 1950, none of the remains found around Opheusden could be identified as Collier. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1950.

In 2015, DPAA historians began working on a comprehensive research and recovery project focused on those missing from Operation MARKET GARDEN. During that work, they analyzed information about X-3324 Neuville, an unknown set of remains recovered from the civilian cemetery in Opheusden in 1946 and buried in what is today known as Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium. Following a multidisciplinary analysis from DPAA historians, forensic anthropologists, and odontologists, it was determined X-3324 could possibly be Collier. These remains were disinterred in April 2019 and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.

To identify Collier’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.

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

Collier will be buried Nov. 12, 2022, in his hometown.

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

Press Release | Sept. 21, 2022

USS California Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Turk, P.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 2nd Class Pete Turk, 20, of Scammon, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Oct. 1, 2021.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Turk 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 Turk.

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 Turk.

In 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed the 25 USS California Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.

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

Turk’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.

Turk will be buried Oct. 17, 2022, in Manhattan, Kansas.

For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Service Casualty office at (800) 443-9298.

Press Release | Sept. 19, 2022

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Ferguson, J.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Pfc. John L. Ferguson, 20, of Flanagan, Illinois, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for July 14, 2022.

In late 1941, Ferguson was a member of the 28th Materiel Squadron, 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. Ferguson 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, Ferguson died Dec. 10, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 917.

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. Five of the sets of remains from Common Grave 917 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) on Feb. 15 and 16, 1950, as Unknowns.

In March 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 917 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

To identify Ferguson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological, and isotope 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.

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

Ferguson will be buried Oct. 1, 2022, in Gridley, Illinois.

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

Press Release | Aug. 31, 2022

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Hofman, D.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Donald Hofman, 19, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 8, 2022.

In January 1945, Hofman was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th 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. Hofman 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 Hofman. He was declared non-recoverable on May 22, 1951.

DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found that Unknown X-6376 Neuville, buried at Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, could be associated with Hofman. X-6376 was disinterred in July 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.

To identify Hofman’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), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Hofman’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.

Hofman will be buried in Byron Center, Michigan, at a date yet to be determined.

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