WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Justice J. Buttala, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Jan. 14, 2025.
Buttala's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the spring of 1945, Buttala served as an observer aboard a B-29 "Superfortress" bomber assigned to 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force. On April 24, during a combat mission to Japan, the aircraft was shot down over Tachikawa, on the western outskirts of Tokyo. Buttala survived the crash but was held as a prisoner of war. He perished in the Tokyo Military Prison during a fire on May 26, 1945.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Service was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater. Although the AGRS recovered 65 sets of remains from the Tokyo Military Prison, they were unable to identify any as Buttala. At the end of AGRS identification efforts, U.S. forces interred 39 Unknowns associated with the Tokyo Military Prison in Fort McKinley Cemetery, now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila, Republic of the Philippines.
In March and April 2022, DPAA exhumed the 39 Unknowns associated with the Tokyo Prison Fire for comparison to associated casualties, including Buttala, and accessioned them into the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Buttala’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Buttala’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Honolulu, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Buttala will be buried in Alexandria, Virginia on a date yet to be determined.
For family and funeral information, call the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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 www.dpaa.mil or on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, https://www.linkedin.com/company/dodpaa, https://www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or https://x.com/dodpaa.
Read Buttala's initial ID announcement here: Buttala.