Press Release | Nov. 15, 2024

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Clark, W.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Walter L. Clark, 28, of Santa Rosa, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for August 27, 2024.

Clark’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.

In late 1941, Clark was a member of 19th Quartermaster Truck Company, 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.  Clark 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, Clark died Nov. 1, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 704.

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. Two of the sets of remains from Common Grave 704 were identified, while the remaining 8 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 704 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Clark’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 sequencing (mtG) analysis.

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

Clark will be buried in Dixon, California, on a date to be determined.

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

Press Release | Nov. 13, 2024

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

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Sgt. James W. Swartz, 21, of Webberville, Michigan, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for August 2, 2024.

In late 1942, Swartz was a member of 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit 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.  Swartz 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, Swartz died Sept. 23, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 434.

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. Four of the sets of remains from Common Grave 434 were identified, while the remaining seven were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 434 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Swartz’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.

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

Swartz will be buried in Williamstown Township, Michigan, in April 2025.

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

Press Release | Nov. 8, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (Simmons, W.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Master Sgt. Wallace Simmons Jr., 36, of Indianapolis, Indiana, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for June 20, 2024.

In late 1950, Simmons was a member of Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Dec. 6, 1950, after his unit was engaged with enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. The exact circumstances of his loss are not historically available, and there was never a record he was held captive as a POW.

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 Simmons’ 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) analysis.

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

Simmons will be buried in Indianapolis, Indiana, on a date to be determined.

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

Press Release | Oct. 31, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (Godwin, H.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Corporal Howard Godwin Jr., 22, of Grafton, West Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for June 26, 2024.

In July 1950, Godwin was a member of A Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 20 while fighting North Korean forces in the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea. He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that could be identified as Godwin. He was declared non-recoverable in January 1956.

On January 1, 1951, three sets of remains were recovered roughly three miles northwest of Taejon near where Cpl. Godwin’s unit was fighting. Two of the three remains were identified at the time, but investigators could not make a scientific identification of the third. Those remains were designated Unknown X-351 Tanggok and 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.

In July 2018, DPAA historians and anthropologists proposed a plan to disinter and identify the 652 Korean War unknown burials from the Punchbowl. X-351 was disinterred July 15, 2019, as part of Phase 1 of the Korean War Identification Project and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory.

To identify Godwin’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 (mtDNA) analysis.

Godwin’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monument 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.

Godwin will be buried in Grafton, West Virginia, on Nov. 15, 2024.

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

Press Release | Oct. 31, 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Cook, B.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Basil M. Cook, 31, of Hinton, West Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for September 6, 2024.

In November 1944, Cook was assigned to Company H, 3rd Battalion, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, as the driver of an M4 Sherman tank. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hücheln, Germany, when his tank ran over a mine. The explosion is believed to have killed Cook instantaneously. His remains were not immediately recovered or identified after the fighting.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted an investigation in the Hücheln area in September 1948. Town locals were interviewed, but there were no reports of deceased American servicemembers in the area. All efforts to locate Cook proved unsuccessful at the time.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hücheln area in 2020, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-1239 Margraten, recovered from a burned-out tank one mile northeast of in Hücheln in August 1945 possibly belonged to Cook. The remains, which had been buried in Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, were disinterred in July 2022 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Cook’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).

Cook’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margarten, 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.

Cook will be buried in Hinton, West Virginia, on a date to be determined.

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