WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army 1st Lt. Robert P. Aikman, 40, killed during World War II, was accounted for April 2, 2025.
In January 1945, Aikman was assigned to Battery D, 1st Battalion, 59th Coastal Artillery Corps. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1942 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru. Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay. After a series of land and naval transfers, Aikman was transported to Takao, Formosa, aboard the Enoura Maru. The Japanese government reported that Aikman died on January 9, 1945, when U.S. forces sank the Enoura Maru. He was declared non-recoverable on March 22, 1949.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Aikman'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 .