May 9, 2024

DOD Team in France Searching for Missing WWII Airmen

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, a C-47A aircraft from what was then U.S. Army Air Corps' 304th Troop Carrier Squadron, 442nd Troop Carrier Group, participated in the D-Day airborne operation in France.The aircraft carried a crew of five, along with 14 paratroopers from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.All 14 paratroopers exited the

May 6, 2024

US’ ‘unknown’ POWs were buried in a Japan mass grave 80 years ago. Can an American forensics team finally identify them?

Nearly 80 years after 62 US airmen held as prisoners of war were buried in a mass grave after perishing in a fire that consumed the Tokyo Military Prison, a new effort is under way to identify their remains and bring closure to their families.That complicated and time-consuming task falls to the historians, forensic anthropologists, archivists and

May 1, 2024

Take the ridge: Project to aid the recovery of missing servicemen reaches Guam

From the beach at Asan, the U.S. Marines faced a daunting task: battle their way up the heights to Adelup Point, occupied and fortified by the Japanese.The same technology used to locate Maya ruins amid the jungles of Guatemala is recreating the scene of the 1944 Battle of Guam in intricate detail, potentially leading to the recovery of missing

April 26, 2024

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency director speaks at AFCLC seminar

Air University in Montgomery welcomed a very special guest to speak at the AFCLC seminar.To watch the video news story, click here.

April 23, 2024

DPAA Identifies Remains of Illinois National Guard Soldier from World War II

Springfield, Ill — Rosemary Dillon, of Chicago, was about five years old when her Uncle Harry, who was serving in the Illinois Army National Guard’s Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion, was activated for federal service, arriving in the Philippines just days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the next day, the Philippines.On Oct. 4, nearly 83 years after the

April 22, 2024

Remains of Illinois soldier who died in Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during WWII identified

After 81 years, a Chicago-area soldier who died during World War II can be laid to rest in his home state.Military scientists have officially identified the remains of Harry Jerele of west suburban Berkeley, who died of pneumonia at age 26 in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in the Philippines. He was accounted for last December, the Defense POW/MIA

April 18, 2024

A long journey home, nearly 83 years later

White-gloved hands carefully lifted the American flag draped over the long casket and began to fold. Firm creases. Every edge straightened and tucked.The process, steeped in ceremony and tradition, took minutes, not seconds, and the Navy honor guard carried out the solemn task with reverence.As the six men and women made each of the 13 folds, the

April 17, 2024

Black sailor killed at Pearl Harbor identified after 80 years

Edna Lee Ward walked into a newspaper office in Portsmouth, Va., early in 1942 carrying a picture of her son, who was in the Navy. He had been declared missing in action after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.His name was David Walker. He was 19. He had dropped out of his African American high school to serve as a mess attendant

April 11, 2024

US, South Korea begin annual search for remains still missing from Korean War

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — Anthropologists and historians from the United States and South Korea have embarked on their annual search for the remains of service members killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.Ten U.S. military and civilian members of the Hawaii-based Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began their monthlong mission Monday with counterparts from South Korea, DPAA

April 11, 2024

‘Another Way to Serve’ Says Defense Health Agency Volunteer on MIA Recovery Missions

Nearly 80 years after being declared missing in action during World War II, U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Henry L. Stevens, of Monroe, Alabama, has been identified.Stevens was accounted for on Sept. 15, 2023, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, following several recovery missions in Belgium by a team of volunteers with the