Press Release | Nov. 27, 2019

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Burchfield, R.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Sgt. 1st Class Riley Burchfield, 22, of Cleveland, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Sept. 3, 2019.

(This identification was initially published Oct. 1, 2019.)

In late 1950, Burchfield was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces near Kunu-ri, North Korea on Nov. 26, 1950. He reportedly died while in custody of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces at Prisoner of War Camp 5 in February 1951.

In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including a set designated Unknown X-13439 Operation Glory. The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Burchfield and he was declared non-recoverable. The remains were subsequently buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency disinterred X-13439 Operation Glory as part of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and accessioned the remains to the laboratory.
To identify Burchfield’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Today, 7,604 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by Korean officials, recovered from Korea by American recovery teams, or disinterred from unknown graves. Burchfield’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 missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

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

Burchfield will be buried Jan. 10, 2020, in his hometown.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.

Press Release | Nov. 27, 2019

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Artley, D.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Quartermaster 2nd Class Daryle E. Artley, 21, of Maywood, Nebraska, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 30, 2019.

(This identification was initially published Sept. 11, 2019.)

On Dec. 7, 1941, Artley 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 Artley.

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, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Artley.

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

To identify Artley’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.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Navy for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,635 still unaccounted for from World War II with approximately 30,000 assessed as possibly recoverable. Artley’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.

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

Artley will be buried May 15, 2020, in Vancouver, Washington.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Press Release | Nov. 26, 2019

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

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Charles G. Ruble, 20, of Parker City, Indiana, killed during World War II, was accounted for May 31, 2019.

(This identification was initially published June 4, 2019.)

In September 1944, Ruble was a member of the 99th Troop Carrier Squadron, 441st Troop Carrier Group, serving as an aerial engineer aboard a C-47A aircraft, nicknamed the Celia L. On September 17, 1944, the Celia L, which operated out of U.S. Army Air Forces Station 490, Langar, Nottinghamshire, England, participated in Operation MARKET GARDEN, the Allied invasion of the German-occupied Netherlands. The aircraft was carrying a crew of five and transporting 10 paratroopers from the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment to a drop-zone near Groesbeek, Netherlands. Anti-aircraft fire struck the plane’s wing and ignited its gas tanks. The paratroopers successfully exited the plane, as did two of the crewmembers. The pilot crash landed the plane several hundred yards inside the German border. Three crewmembers survived, but two, including Ruble, could not be accounted for and were believed to have been killed in the crash.

In April 1946, members of the 606th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company recovered eight sets of remains from isolated burials near Zyfflich, Germany, close to the Netherlands border. One set of remains, designated X-2565 Neuville, was buried about 500 yards from a downed C-47 aircraft in a grave marked with an uninscribed wooden cross. U.S. authorities interred X-2565 at what is today the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium after they had been declared unidentifiable.

After thorough research and analysis, historians from DPAA determined that Ruble was a strong candidate for association with X-2565. In June 2018, X-2565 was disinterred and the remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.

To identify Ruble’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) analysis.

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.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,635 service members still unaccounted for from World War II with approximately 30,000 assessed as possibly recoverable. Ruble’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others missing from WWII. Although interred as an “unknown”, his grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For family information, call the Army Service Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

Ruble will be buried March 2, 2020 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Press Release | Nov. 25, 2019

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Wilson, G.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. Gerald N. Wilson, 19, of Camden, Missouri, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Aug. 29, 2019.

(This identification was initially released Sept. 3, 2019.)

In the summer of 1950, Wilson was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was last seen July 25, 1950, while participating in the defense of Yongdong, South Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.

Following the war, the 565th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company recovered a set of remains, designated Unknown X-1044 Tanggok from Ulgok, South Korea. The remains were declared unidentifiable and were subsequently buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

On June 11, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency disinterred X-1044 Tanggok and accessioned the remains to the laboratory.

To identify Wilson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Today, 7,604 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by Korean officials, recovered from Korea by American recovery teams, or disinterred from unknown graves. Wilson’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 missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

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

Wilson will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The date has yet to be determined. For future funeral information, visit www.dpaa.mil.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.

Press Release | Nov. 25, 2019

USS West Virginia Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Walters, B.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Fireman 1st Class Bethel E. Walters, 25, of Bellevue, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sep. 23, 2019.

(This identification was initially published Oct. 30, 2019.)

On Dec. 7, 1941, Walters was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor. The attack resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Walters.

During efforts to salvage the USS West Virginia, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crewmen, representing at least 66 individuals. Those who could not be identified, including Walters, were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

From June through October 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, in cooperation with cemetery officials, disinterred 35 caskets, reported to be associated with the USS West Virginia, from the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the laboratory for identification.

To identify Walters’ 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.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Navy for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,635 still unaccounted for from World War II with approximately 30,000 assessed as possibly recoverable. Walters’ 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.

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

The location and date for Walters’ funeral has yet to be decided. For future funeral information, visit www.dpaa.mil.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.