Press Release | Dec. 2, 2021

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

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Sgt. James N. Stryker, 20, of West Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Aug. 5, 2020.

In May 1951, Stryker was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on May 18, when the enemy attacked his unit near Han’gye, South Korea. His remains could not be immediately recovered, but he was not officially declared dead until after the Armistice was signed July 27, 1953.

During a search of Korean War battlefields later in May 1951, an unknown set of remains was recovered from the area where Stryker went missing. After a preliminary examination at Tanggok United Nations Military Cemetery, an identification could not be made and the remains were buried as Unknown X-1373 Tanggok. Further attempts were made to identify X-1373, but were unsuccessful. The remains were later transported with all of the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In May 2017, the family of an unresolved Soldier associated with the same area where Stryker went missing requested X-1373 be disinterred for comparison with their Soldier. Further research by a DPAA historian and forensic anthropologist determined X-1373 and the Soldier were unlikely to be associated, but that X-1373 could be associated with Stryker or five other Soldiers. X-1373 was disinterred Aug. 20, 2018, and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor/Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

To identify Stryker’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Stryker’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.

Stryker will be buried in San Antonio, Texas. The date has yet to be determined.

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

Press Release | Nov. 22, 2021

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

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Sgt. Larry S. Wassil, 33, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 27, 2021.

In late 1944, Wassil was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. His unit was part of the Hürtgen Forest offensive, near Hürtgen, Germany, when he was reported missing in action on Dec. 28. He was leading a three-man reconnaissance team scouting enemy positions near Bergstein when they started taking enemy machine gun fire, forcing them to scatter. When the gunfire stopped, the other two men found each other, but were unable to find Wassil. German forces never listed him as a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 29, 1945.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Wassil’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in December 1951.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-9118 Griesheim Mausoleum, originally discovered by German wood cutters near Bergstein and recovered by the AGRC in 1952, possibly belonged to Wassil. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, were disinterred in April 2019 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.

To identify Wassil’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

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

Wassil will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The date has yet to be determined.

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

DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission and to the U.S. Army Regional Mortuary-Europe/Africa for their partnership in this mission.

Press Release | Nov. 17, 2021

Airman Accounted For From World War II (McMackin, C.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Charles G. McMackin, 26, of Boston, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 17, 2020.

In the summer of 1943, McMackin was assigned to the 68th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which McMackin was serving as a bombardier 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 McMackin’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

McMackin’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.

McMackin will be buried April 14, 2022, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

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

Press Release | Nov. 17, 2021

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Belden, H.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Sgt. Howard R. Belden, 19, of Hague, New York, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Oct. 14, 2021.

In late 1950, Belden was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.

On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Belden’s remains, scientists from DPAA used 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.

Belden’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.

Belden will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The date has yet to be determined.

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