Press Release | May 13, 2019

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

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Pfc. Dale W. Ross, 22, of Ashland, Oregon, killed during World War II, was accounted for on April 16, 2019.

(This identification was initially announced on April 18, 2019.)

In January 1943, Ross was a member of Company E, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, serving in the Pacific Theater. He was reported missing in action on Jan. 14, 1943, following a patrol in the vicinity of Hill 27, Mount Austen, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. A search was conducted, but fellow Soldiers were unable to locate his remains. On July 14, 1949, based on a lack of information, the U.S. Army determined Ross to be non-recoverable.

In 2012, predecessor organizations to DPAA conducted investigations and interviews in Mbarana Village, a village situated near the Gifu battlefield, where Ross was believed to have died. Between 2012 and 2015, several investigation and recovery operations were conducted in Mbarana, and possible human remains were located along the steep hillside surface of Hill 27.

In 2017, Pacific Wrecks, Inc., a partnership organization, contacted DPAA regarding possible remains found along Hill 27. DPAA excavated the site with support from local civilians, recovering additional remains. The remains were consolidated with the remains found in 2015, and sent to the laboratory for analysis.

To identify Ross’ remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

DPAA is grateful to the government of the Solomon Islands, Pacific Wrecks, Inc., and the Ross family for their partnership in this recovery.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,722 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Ross’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City, Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII. 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.

Ross will be buried Sept. 7, 2019, in Medford, Oregon.

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

Press Release | May 13, 2019

USS Oklahoma Brothers Accounted For From World War II (Palmer, C. & Palmer, W.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that brothers Navy Seaman 2nd Class Calvin H. Palmer, 23, and Navy Seaman 2nd Class Wilferd D. Palmer, 21, of Minot, North Dakota, killed during World War II, were accounted for on March 19, 2019.

(These identifications were initially announced on March 25, 2019.)

On Dec. 7, 1941, the Palmers were 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 the Palmer brothers.

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 the brothers.

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

To identify the Palmers’ remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and 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 72,729 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. The Palmers’ names are 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 their names to indicate they have been accounted for.

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

The Palmer brothers will be buried Aug. 9. 2019, in Port Orchard, 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 | May 3, 2019

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Shuey, C.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Sgt. Cread E. Shuey, 23, of Norton, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Feb. 26, 2019.

(This identification was initially announced on March 5, 2019.)

On Dec. 8, 1941, Shuey was a member of Battery G, 60th Coast Artillery Regiment, serving in the Philippines, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of the Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were taken prisoner and sent to prisoner of war camps. Shuey was among those reported captured after the surrender of Corregidor and held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the remaining years of the war.

According to prison and historical records, Shuey died on Sept. 27, 1942, and was buried along with fellow prisoners in the local Cabanatuan camp cemetery.

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 cemetery near Manila. In late 1947, the AGRS again exhumed the remains at the Manila cemetery in an attempt to identify them. Due to the circumstances of the POW deaths and burials, the extensive commingling, and the limited identification technologies of the time, all of the remains could not be individually identified. The unidentified remains were reburied as unknowns in the present-day Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

In May 2016, the Secretary of the Army granted permission to exhume six graves associated with the Cabanatuan Common Grave 439. On May 11, 2016, the remains were sent to DPAA for identification.

To identify Shuey’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 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 72,729 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Shuey’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site along with others missing from WWII. Although interred as an “unknown” in Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Shuey’s 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.

Shuey will be buried March 30, 2019, in Tucson, Arizona. His family does not wish to be contacted by media.

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 | April 29, 2019

Airman Accounted For From World War II (Rogers, V.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Vincent J. Rogers, Jr., 21, of Snyder, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for on March 21, 2019.

(This identification was initially announced on April 1, 2019.)

On Jan. 21, 1944, Rogers was an assistant radio operator for the 38th Bombardment Squadron, (Heavy), 30th Bombardment Group, stationed at Hawkins Field, Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, when his B-24J bomber crashed in shallow water shortly after take-off.

The squadron’s physician witnessed the crash and immediately waded into the water. He was able to rescue three members of the 10-man crew. The other seven crew members perished in the crash. Their remains were subsequently recovered from the wreckage and buried on the island in a temporary cemetery.

Following the war, the U.S. Army’s 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company (AGRC) conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947. Those efforts led to the recovery and identification of three of the seven deceased crew members from the B-24J. The AGRC also consolidated all the remains from isolated burial sites into a single cemetery called Lone Palm Cemetery. The remains of the other four crewmembers from the B-24J bomber were believed to be among those moved, however Rogers’ remains were not identified and he was declared non-recoverable. Those Tarawa remains that could not be identified were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

On April 3, 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-012 from the Punchbowl. Also in 2017, History Flight, Inc., through a partnership with DPAA uncovered a series of coffin burials in Cemetery #33. Based on scientific analysis, the X-012 remains were consolidated with remains recovered from Cemetery #33.

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

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and History Flight, Inc. for their participation in this recovery mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,729 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Rogers’ name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

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

Rogers will be buried June 5, 2019, in Riverside, California.

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 | April 16, 2019

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

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Capt. Rufus J. Hyman, 23, of Memphis, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Feb. 20, 2019.

(This identification was initially announced on Feb. 22, 2019.)

In July 1950, Hyman was an infantry officer with Company A, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, engaging in combat actions against the North Korean People’s Army in the vicinity of Kwonbin-ni, South Korea. Hyman was declared missing in action on July 30, 1950.

In July 1951, a Search and Recovery Team from the American Registration Service Group recovered an isolated burial in the vicinity of where Hyman was last seen. The remains were designated X-1575 Tanggok and were sent to the Central Identification Unit in Japan for identification. Unable to be identified, the remains were sent to the National Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, and buried as an Unknown.

On Oct. 30, 2017, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-1575 from the Punchbowl for identification.

To identify Hyman’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 Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Today, 7,662 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams. Hyman’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 contact information, contact the Army Service Casualty office at (800) 892-2490.
For future funeral details, visit www.dpaa.mil

Hyman will be buried Oct. 9, 2019, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C.

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.