WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Maj. James J. O’Donovan, 34, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Feb. 4, 2024.
In late 1942, O’Donovan was a member of 3rd Battalion, 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. O’Donovan 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, O’Donovan died on Oct. 18, 1942, and was buried in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Grave 649.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of O'Donovan's case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, visit the DPAA website at or on social media at , , , or .