10/14/2024
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Corporal Glenn H. Hodak, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 25, 2024.
In May 1945, Hodak was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, when the B-29 āSuperfortressā he was serving aboard was shot down on a mission to Tokyo, Japan. Initially reported as missing in action, investigators later learned that Hodak was captured and perished in the Tokyo Prison Fire on May 26, 1945. His remains were not immediately recovered or identified after the war.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Estle E. Corvin, killed during World War II, was accounted for September 13, 2024.
In January 1945, Corvin was assigned to Company K, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in the European Theater during World War II. Shortly before midnight on New Yearās Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND. The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company K found itself assigned to resupply and reinforce Allied forces during the Battle of Reipertswiller. At some point on Jan. 21, Corvin was killed, but due to the intensity of the fighting his body was unable to be recovered while Company K was forced to withdraw from the area. With no record of German forces capturing Corvin, and no remains recovered, the War Department issued a āFinding of Deathā in January 1946.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. James G. Loterbaugh, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 20, 2024.
In December 1944, Loterbaugh was assigned to Company C, 774th Tank Battalion, as a crewmember on an M4 āShermanā tank. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Strass, Germany, in the HĆ¼rtgen Forest, when his tank was hit by heavy artillery and anti-tank fire. Due to the speed and intensity of the fighting, the Company C commander was unable to maintain an accurate count of his troops. By mid-day of Dec. 11, it is believed the entire platoon, including Loterbaughās tank, was Missing in Action. The Germans never reported Loterbaugh as a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death in December 1945.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. Harland J. Hennessey, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 23, 2024.
In summer 1942, Hennessey was a member of the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, 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. Hennessey 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.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. James H. Murray, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 23, 2024.
In late 1941, Murray was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th 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. Murray 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.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Private James S. Mitchell, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 30, 2024.
In late 1941, Mitchell was a member of Company B, 31st Infantry Regiment, 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. Mitchell 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.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Kenneth D. Burgess, missing in action during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 13, 2024.
In September 1943, Burgess was assigned to Company B, 4th Ranger Battalion āDarbyās Rangersā in the Mediterranean Theater in World War II. On Sept. 25, Burgess was reported killed in action in the vicinity of the Sala, Italy, during Operation Avalanche. His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war. The War Department declared him non-recoverable on May 10, 1948.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Simon Garelick, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Oct. 7, 2024.
In late 1941, Garelick was a member of Headquarters Company, Philippines Department in the Philippines during World War II, 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.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Leon R. Karwacki, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 26, 2024.
In late 1944, Karwacki was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 36th Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division. In mid-September, his battalion advanced against enemy forces around Stolberg, Germany, between Aachen and the Hurtgen Forest. He was killed on Sept. 17, during an attack near the Mausbach village. Karwackiās body could not be recovered due to the intensity of enemy fire.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly Jr., killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 25, 2024.
In March 1944, Kelly was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. On the morning of March 11, Kelly, the bombardier onboard a B-24D āLiberatorā Heaven Can Wait departed Nadzab Strip #1, Papua New Guinea, as part of a bombing mission against enemy positions at Boram Airfield, and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea. Observers from other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly. Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing down into the water. It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing un-dropped ordnance to explode. Several aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating any possible survivors, but none could be seen.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Willard H. Edwards, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Sept. 26, 2023.
In the winter of 1950, Edwards was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 5 after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class James C. Bowman, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Sept. 25, 2024.
In the winter of 1950, Bowman was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 28 after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas J. OāBrien, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for Sept. 27, 2024.
In late 1950, OāBrien was a member of Headquarters Battery, 90th Field Artillery Battalion, Division Artillery, 25th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action by tank fire on Oct. 26, 1950, after his unit was attacked by Korean Peopleās Army (KPA) forces while moving through the Democratic Peopleās Republic of Korea (North Korea). Following the end of hostilities, there was no information to suggest OāBrien was being held as a prisoner of war, and there was no body recovered.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Sgt. Clayton M. Pierce, 41, of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for June 7, 2024.
In late 1950, Pierce was a member of D Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Dec. 1, 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.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Merchant Marine Wiper Elvis N. Spotts, 18, of Kansas City, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 13, 2018.
In February 1944, Spotts was a crew member of the SS Cape Isabel, part of a convoy of three ships including the USS Grayson and the SS Cape Fear. On Feb. 22, 1944, the ships were approximately 12 miles off the coast of Tarawa Atoll. The two Merchant Marine vessels were bringing supplies to Betio Island. Spotts was electrocuted during bilge maintenance. He was unable to be revived.
On Feb. 23, 1944, Spotts was buried with military honors in the U.S. Marine Cemetery on Betio Island.
In the aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in and after the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but Spottsā remains were not identified and he was declared non-recoverable.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army First Lieutenant Herman J. Sundstad, 26, of Perley, Minnesota, killed during World War II, was accounted for on June 24, 2024.
In the summer of 1944, Sundstad was a member of the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), also known as Merrillās Marauders. On June 5, Sundstadās unit, referred to as āTask Force Galahadā, was engaged with Japanese forces in the Battle of Myitkyina, in Burma. Historical records of Sundstadās assigned unit were lost, but he was believed to be a member of 3rd Battalion. At the time of his loss, 3rd Battalion was engaging an overwhelming enemy force near the village of Namkwi. The exact circumstances of his death were not recorded, and his remains were not accounted for during or after the war.
In the fall of 1944, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel recovered a set of unknown remains, designated X-75 Kalaikunda, in the vicinity of Myitkyina. The remains were examined at U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda, India, but investigators were unable to scientifically identify them. X-75, and other Unknowns from Myitkyina, were transferred and interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Larry R. Kilpatrick, 28, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, killed during Vietnam was accounted for May 18, 2018.
In June 1972, Kilpatrick was a member of Attack Squadron One Hundred Five (VA-105), on board the USS Saratoga (CVA-60), flying an A-7A āCorsair IIā aircraft in a flight of two on a night armed reconnaissance mission over northern Vietnam. Kilpatrickās wingman lost radio contact with him outside of Ha Tinh City, after he announced he had sighted a target and was commencing an attack. After daybreak, search and rescue aircraft observed remnants of a parachute near Kilpatrickās last known location, but could not identify it as Kilpatrickās. The search and rescue team was unable to locate any aircraft wreckage.
On June 19, 1972, a Radio Hanoi broadcast claimed a shoot-down of four aircraft in the previous two days. According to the report, on June 18, an A-7 was shot down. Records indicated that Kilpatrickās A-7A was the only aircraft of that kind lost during that period. In 1996, a joint team excavated the crash site, recovering aircraft wreckage consistent with an A-7 aircraft, but no remains were located. In the following years, excavation of the crash site was expanded, with teams recovering possible osseous remains, as well as life support items. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for processing and identification.
For additional information on the Defense Departmentās mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.
We provide the fullest possible accounting of missing service members to families and the nation.
