Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Travers, J.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Joseph R. Travers, 24, of Taunton, Massachusetts, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for June 20, 2024.
Traver’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In early 1951, Travers was a member of Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on April 22, 1951, after his unit had engaged enemy forces near the village of Undam-Jang, Republic of Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, several POWs who returned during Operation Big Switch reported Travers had been a prisoner of war and died in December 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #1.
In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation GLORY, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Changsong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #1, to the United Nations Command. None were associated with Travers.
One set of remains disinterred from Camp #1 returned during Operation Glory was designated Unknown X-14197 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 August 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14197 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Travers’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 analysis.
Travers’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.
Travers will be buried in Taunton, Massachusetts, on a date yet 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 21:40:192025-04-04 21:40:21Pfc. Joseph R. Travers
Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Shostak, F.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Felix J. Shostak, 24, of Proctor, Vermont, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 19, 2023.
Shostak’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In August of 1944, Shostak was assigned to the 860th Bombardment Squadron, 493rd Bombardment Group, in the European Theater of Operations. On Aug 18, Shostak was a crewmember onboard a B-24H “Liberator,” when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Boussicourt, France. Only one airman survived, while the other eight crew members, including Shostak, were still on board. German records indicate the bomber crashed roughly two kilometers west of Boussicourt, where the remains of several individuals were recovered and buried.
Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred and identified six sets of remains recovered from the village cemetery at Pierrepont-sur-Avre, France. At the time they were unable to identify Shostak and one other crewmember.
In 2018, DPAA investigators excavated a site near Boussicourt which they believe correlated with Shostak’s crash site. While there, they were able to recover possible remains along with other materials believed to be associated with the B-24H. This new evidence, along with previously unidentified remains, were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Shostak’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Shostak’s name is memorialized 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.
Shostak will be buried in Proctor, Vermont in June 2025.
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 21:39:502025-04-04 21:39:51Staff Sgt. Felix J. Shostak
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Donald W. Downing, 33, of Columbus, Wisconsin, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for Dec. 20, 2024
Downing’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In September 1967, Downing was assigned to 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, 7th Air Force. On Sept. 5, he was piloting an F-4C Phantom II aircraft as the second in a flight of two aircraft conducting a nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over the then-Democratic Republic of Vietnam. While on a run to their target, the first aircraft witnessed a large, bright fireball in the air, and Downing’s aircraft did not respond to any radio calls. Search and rescue efforts began at daylight, but electronic and visual searches didn’t find anything. On April 28, 1978, the Air Force reported Capt. Downing as Killed in Action. He was later posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
After decades of investigation into the incident yielding no results, a recovery team with Joint Field Activity 24-3VN recovered life support equipment, possible material evidence, aircraft wreckage, unexploded ordnance and possible osseous material at a site in Quang Binh Province in May and June 2024. Evidence from the mission was accessioned into the DPAA laboratory in June 2024.
To identify Downing’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA analysis.
Downing’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.
Downing’s funeral will be held in Arlington National Cemetery on a date yet to be determined.
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 21:39:222025-04-04 21:39:23Lt. Col. Donald W. Downing
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. Donald E. Bays, 21, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Dec. 20, 2024.
During World War II, Bays was assigned to the Tow Target Detachment at Hickam Airfield on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. On. Dec. 7th, 1944, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft expanded to Hickam Field, targeting U.S. aircrafts and ships, barracks, supply buildings, and the base chapel. The attack lasted four hours. Bays was reportedly killed during this time.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Bays’s case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
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 21:38:512025-04-04 21:38:53Pvt. Donald E. Bays
WASHINGTON—The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Loring E. Lord, 28, of Sommerville, Massachusetts, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 18, 2024.
Lord’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In March 1945, Lord was a member of the 642nd Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Division, 9th Air Force. He was a gunner aboard an A-26B “Invader”, when his aircraft was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire during a bombing mission to Duelmen, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation witnessed the A-26B lose altitude, crash and explode. There was no indication that anyone escaped the crash, and the crew was reported Missing In Action.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. During their investigations, AGRC members interviewed local residents and officials for information about missing American servicemen. In 1949, they visited villages between Velen and Dulmen, including Groß Reken, where a former police chief reported seeing an American plane go down after one of its wings was shot off. Mr. Heinrich Mels, reported the German Wehrmacht immediately secured the crash site, and buried several airmen in the local cemetery.
Earlier in April 1945, those remains were exhumed when U.S. Army forces occupied the town. Designated X-273 and X-274 Margraten, they were identified as crewmembers aboard Lord’s aircraft. This prompted a renewed search of the crash site outside Groß Reken, where investigators located several aircraft parts. Unfortunately, no other remains were located.
In 2014, DPAA historians received information from a German researcher, Adolf Hagedorn, about a possible crash site he believed could be associated with Lord’s aircraft. A DPAA investigation team met with Hagedorn and reviewed his extensive research, and the possible crash site. Later in 2018, after several recovery missions, DPAA excavations located identification media for one of Lord’s crewmembers, and possible osseous remains. These collected materials were then sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Lord’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 and mitochondrial genome sequence analysis.
Lord’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Hombourg, Belgium, 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.
Lord will be buried in Everette, Massachusetts 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 21:38:252025-04-04 21:38:26Staff Sgt. Loring E. Lord
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Clifton, A.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Arthur A. Clifton, 17, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Aug. 19, 2024.
Clifton’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the winter of 1950, Clifton was a member of Headquarters Battery, 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 11 after his unit was attacked by Chinese Communist Forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15690 Operation Glory. Those remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Clifton and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In July 2018, after disinterring 211 Korean War Unknowns as single sets of remains or small groups from the NMCP, DPAA submitted a request to disinter all 652 remaining Korean War Unknowns interred at the NMCP. By March 2021, DPAA disinterred X-15690, and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Clifton’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Clifton’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.
Clifton will be buried in San Antonio, Texas, in January 2025.
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 21:37:392025-04-04 21:37:41Pfc. Arthur A. Clifton
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Donald W. Downing, 33, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for Dec. 20, 2024.
In Sept. 1967, Downing was assigned to 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, 7th Air Force. On Sept. 5, he was piloting an F-4C Phantom II aircraft as the second in a flight of two aircraft conducting a nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over the then-Democratic Republic of Vietnam. While on a run to their target, the first aircraft witnessed a large, bright fireball in the air, and Downing’s aircraft did not respond to any radio calls. Search and rescue efforts began at daylight, but electronic and visual searches didn’t find anything. On April 28, 1978, the Air Force reported Capt. Downing as Killed in Action. He was later posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Downing’s case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
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 21:36:542025-04-04 21:36:55Lt. Col. Donald W. Downing
Marine Accounted For From World War II (Van Heck, R.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that Marine Corps Sgt. Robert F. Van Heck, 25, of Chicago, IL, killed during World War II, was accounted for on April 13, 2023.
Van Heck’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In November 1943, Van Heck was a member of Company A, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese forces were virtually annihilated. Van Heck died on the first day of battle, Nov. 20. A memorial marker for Van Heck was placed in Cemetery 11.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation. Almost half of the known casualties were never found. The remains that were recovered were sent to Hawaii for analysis. Those that could not be identified or associated with one of the missing were buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, including one set designated Tarawa Unknown X-265.
In 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-265 from the Punchbowl as part of an effort to identify the Tarawa Unknowns buried there.
To identify Van Heck’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Van Heck’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific 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.
Van Heck will be buried Jan. 7, 2025, in Hillside, Illinois.
For family and funeral information, contact the Marine Corps Casualty Office at (800) 847-1597.
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 21:36:022025-04-04 21:36:04Sgt. Robert F. Van Heck
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Moore, J.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Tech. Sgt. Joseph R. Moore, 28, killed during World War II, was accounted for Dec. 20, 2024.
In December 1944, Moore was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, in Europe. His regiment had recently captured Hürtgen, Germany, during the Hürtgen Forest offensive. Beginning Dec. 1, Moore’s unit was part of the push east from the town. He was reported missing in action as of Dec. 11 while his unit occupied the woods between Brandenberg and Kleinhau, though there is no clear indication of what happened to him. The Germans never reported Moore as a German prisoner of war, and Army investigators found no evidence he survived the fighting around Brandenberg. The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 12, 1945.
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 and recoveries in the Hürtgen Forest between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to find and identify Moore. He was declared Non-Recoverable on Dec. 12, 1951.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Mann’s case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
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 21:35:232025-04-04 21:35:24Tech. Sgt. Joseph R. Moore
Airman Accounted for from World War II (Hansen, D.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. 1st Class David C. Hansen, 25, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for August 23, 2024.
Hansen’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1941, Hansen was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 27th 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. Hansen 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 #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Hansen died June 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 407.
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. Sixteen of the 25 sets of remains from Common Grave 407 were identified, while the remaining nine were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In Nov. 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 407 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Hansen’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 mitochondrial genome sequence (mtG) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Hansen’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Today, Hansen is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hansen will be buried in Brookfield, Wisconsin, 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 21:34:492025-04-04 21:34:51Pvt. 1st Class David C. Hansen
Pfc. Joseph R. Travers
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Jan. 21, 2025
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Travers, J.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Joseph R. Travers, 24, of Taunton, Massachusetts, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for June 20, 2024.
Traver’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In early 1951, Travers was a member of Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on April 22, 1951, after his unit had engaged enemy forces near the village of Undam-Jang, Republic of Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, several POWs who returned during Operation Big Switch reported Travers had been a prisoner of war and died in December 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #1.
In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation GLORY, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Changsong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #1, to the United Nations Command. None were associated with Travers.
One set of remains disinterred from Camp #1 returned during Operation Glory was designated Unknown X-14197 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 August 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14197 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Travers’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 analysis.
Travers’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.
Travers will be buried in Taunton, Massachusetts, on a date yet to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Staff Sgt. Felix J. Shostak
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Jan. 21, 2025
Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Shostak, F.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Felix J. Shostak, 24, of Proctor, Vermont, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 19, 2023.
Shostak’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In August of 1944, Shostak was assigned to the 860th Bombardment Squadron, 493rd Bombardment Group, in the European Theater of Operations. On Aug 18, Shostak was a crewmember onboard a B-24H “Liberator,” when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Boussicourt, France. Only one airman survived, while the other eight crew members, including Shostak, were still on board. German records indicate the bomber crashed roughly two kilometers west of Boussicourt, where the remains of several individuals were recovered and buried.
Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred and identified six sets of remains recovered from the village cemetery at Pierrepont-sur-Avre, France. At the time they were unable to identify Shostak and one other crewmember.
In 2018, DPAA investigators excavated a site near Boussicourt which they believe correlated with Shostak’s crash site. While there, they were able to recover possible remains along with other materials believed to be associated with the B-24H. This new evidence, along with previously unidentified remains, were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Shostak’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Shostak’s name is memorialized 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.
Shostak will be buried in Proctor, Vermont in June 2025.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Lt. Col. Donald W. Downing
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Jan. 21, 2025
Pilot Accounted For From Vietnam (Downing, D)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Donald W. Downing, 33, of Columbus, Wisconsin, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for Dec. 20, 2024
Downing’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In September 1967, Downing was assigned to 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, 7th Air Force. On Sept. 5, he was piloting an F-4C Phantom II aircraft as the second in a flight of two aircraft conducting a nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over the then-Democratic Republic of Vietnam. While on a run to their target, the first aircraft witnessed a large, bright fireball in the air, and Downing’s aircraft did not respond to any radio calls. Search and rescue efforts began at daylight, but electronic and visual searches didn’t find anything. On April 28, 1978, the Air Force reported Capt. Downing as Killed in Action. He was later posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
After decades of investigation into the incident yielding no results, a recovery team with Joint Field Activity 24-3VN recovered life support equipment, possible material evidence, aircraft wreckage, unexploded ordnance and possible osseous material at a site in Quang Binh Province in May and June 2024. Evidence from the mission was accessioned into the DPAA laboratory in June 2024.
To identify Downing’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA analysis.
Downing’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.
Downing’s funeral will be held in Arlington National Cemetery on a date yet to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Air Force Casualty Office at 800-531-5803.
Pvt. Donald E. Bays
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Jan. 14, 2025
Airman Accounted For From World War II (Bays, D.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. Donald E. Bays, 21, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Dec. 20, 2024.
During World War II, Bays was assigned to the Tow Target Detachment at Hickam Airfield on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. On. Dec. 7th, 1944, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft expanded to Hickam Field, targeting U.S. aircrafts and ships, barracks, supply buildings, and the base chapel. The attack lasted four hours. Bays was reportedly killed during this time.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Bays’s case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
Staff Sgt. Loring E. Lord
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Jan. 13, 2025
Airman Accounted for from WWII (Lord, L.)
WASHINGTON –
WASHINGTON—The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Loring E. Lord, 28, of Sommerville, Massachusetts, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 18, 2024.
Lord’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In March 1945, Lord was a member of the 642nd Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Division, 9th Air Force. He was a gunner aboard an A-26B “Invader”, when his aircraft was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire during a bombing mission to Duelmen, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation witnessed the A-26B lose altitude, crash and explode. There was no indication that anyone escaped the crash, and the crew was reported Missing In Action.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. During their investigations, AGRC members interviewed local residents and officials for information about missing American servicemen. In 1949, they visited villages between Velen and Dulmen, including Groß Reken, where a former police chief reported seeing an American plane go down after one of its wings was shot off. Mr. Heinrich Mels, reported the German Wehrmacht immediately secured the crash site, and buried several airmen in the local cemetery.
Earlier in April 1945, those remains were exhumed when U.S. Army forces occupied the town. Designated X-273 and X-274 Margraten, they were identified as crewmembers aboard Lord’s aircraft. This prompted a renewed search of the crash site outside Groß Reken, where investigators located several aircraft parts. Unfortunately, no other remains were located.
In 2014, DPAA historians received information from a German researcher, Adolf Hagedorn, about a possible crash site he believed could be associated with Lord’s aircraft. A DPAA investigation team met with Hagedorn and reviewed his extensive research, and the possible crash site. Later in 2018, after several recovery missions, DPAA excavations located identification media for one of Lord’s crewmembers, and possible osseous remains. These collected materials were then sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Lord’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 and mitochondrial genome sequence analysis.
Lord’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Hombourg, Belgium, 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.
Lord will be buried in Everette, Massachusetts on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Pfc. Arthur A. Clifton
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Jan. 7, 2025
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Clifton, A.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Arthur A. Clifton, 17, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Aug. 19, 2024.
Clifton’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the winter of 1950, Clifton was a member of Headquarters Battery, 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 11 after his unit was attacked by Chinese Communist Forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15690 Operation Glory. Those remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Clifton and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In July 2018, after disinterring 211 Korean War Unknowns as single sets of remains or small groups from the NMCP, DPAA submitted a request to disinter all 652 remaining Korean War Unknowns interred at the NMCP. By March 2021, DPAA disinterred X-15690, and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Clifton’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Clifton’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.
Clifton will be buried in San Antonio, Texas, in January 2025.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Lt. Col. Donald W. Downing
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Jan. 7, 2025
Pilot Accounted For From Vietnam (Downing, D.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Donald W. Downing, 33, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for Dec. 20, 2024.
In Sept. 1967, Downing was assigned to 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, 7th Air Force. On Sept. 5, he was piloting an F-4C Phantom II aircraft as the second in a flight of two aircraft conducting a nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over the then-Democratic Republic of Vietnam. While on a run to their target, the first aircraft witnessed a large, bright fireball in the air, and Downing’s aircraft did not respond to any radio calls. Search and rescue efforts began at daylight, but electronic and visual searches didn’t find anything. On April 28, 1978, the Air Force reported Capt. Downing as Killed in Action. He was later posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Downing’s case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
Sgt. Robert F. Van Heck
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Jan. 2, 2025
Marine Accounted For From World War II (Van Heck, R.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that Marine Corps Sgt. Robert F. Van Heck, 25, of Chicago, IL, killed during World War II, was accounted for on April 13, 2023.
Van Heck’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In November 1943, Van Heck was a member of Company A, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese forces were virtually annihilated. Van Heck died on the first day of battle, Nov. 20. A memorial marker for Van Heck was placed in Cemetery 11.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation. Almost half of the known casualties were never found. The remains that were recovered were sent to Hawaii for analysis. Those that could not be identified or associated with one of the missing were buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, including one set designated Tarawa Unknown X-265.
In 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-265 from the Punchbowl as part of an effort to identify the Tarawa Unknowns buried there.
To identify Van Heck’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Van Heck’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific 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.
Van Heck will be buried Jan. 7, 2025, in Hillside, Illinois.
For family and funeral information, contact the Marine Corps Casualty Office at (800) 847-1597.
Tech. Sgt. Joseph R. Moore
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Dec. 26, 2024
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Moore, J.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Tech. Sgt. Joseph R. Moore, 28, killed during World War II, was accounted for Dec. 20, 2024.
In December 1944, Moore was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, in Europe. His regiment had recently captured Hürtgen, Germany, during the Hürtgen Forest offensive. Beginning Dec. 1, Moore’s unit was part of the push east from the town. He was reported missing in action as of Dec. 11 while his unit occupied the woods between Brandenberg and Kleinhau, though there is no clear indication of what happened to him. The Germans never reported Moore as a German prisoner of war, and Army investigators found no evidence he survived the fighting around Brandenberg. The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 12, 1945.
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 and recoveries in the Hürtgen Forest between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to find and identify Moore. He was declared Non-Recoverable on Dec. 12, 1951.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Mann’s case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
Pvt. 1st Class David C. Hansen
Recently IdentifiedPress Release | Dec. 20, 2024
Airman Accounted for from World War II (Hansen, D.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. 1st Class David C. Hansen, 25, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for August 23, 2024.
Hansen’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1941, Hansen was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 27th 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. Hansen 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 #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Hansen died June 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 407.
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. Sixteen of the 25 sets of remains from Common Grave 407 were identified, while the remaining nine were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In Nov. 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 407 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Hansen’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 mitochondrial genome sequence (mtG) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Hansen’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Today, Hansen is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hansen will be buried in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.