WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Navy Reserve Seaman 2nd Class Jerome M. Mullaney, 18, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 10, 2025.
Mullaney's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the summer of 1944, Mullaney was assigned to the destroyer USS Glennon, which participated in the invasion of France on June 6, commonly known as “D-Day." Mullaney was killed two days after the invasion, on June 8, when USS Glennon hit an underwater mine off the coast of France. The stern of the ship became lodged on the sea floor and after unsuccessful attempts to tow the vessel to safety, USS Glennon was finally sunk after being struck by a German artillery barrage on June 10. At that time, 25 sailors, including Mullaney, were recorded as missing.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command, U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. The AGRC conducted dozens of searches along the French coast until 1951 and identified five sailors from the USS Glennon. However, the teams found no information regarding Mullaney. He was declared non recoverable in May 1949.
In 1957, pieces of the USS Glennon were hauled to shore by salvagers at St. Marie du Mont, France, where they were broken down for scrap. While searching through the larger sections of wreckage, a local resident found human remains within the forward portion of the ship. The remains were turned over to American officials from the Army mausoleum in Frankfurt, Germany, who subsequently designated them X-9296. The remains were examined but could not be positively identified at the time. On March 4, 1959, they were interred in Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.
In 2021, historians at DPAA began an effort to associate unresolved sailors from the USS Glennon with X-9296. That research confirmed that Mullaney and the other 19 unaccounted-for sailors from the vessel were strong historical candidates for association to the unknown remains. In August 2022, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed X-9296 and transferred the remains to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
To identify Mullaney’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA analysis.
Mullaney’s name is recorded on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Mullaney will be buried in his hometown on Sept. 3, 2025.
For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Casualty Office at (800) 443-9298.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency, www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or https://x.com/dodpaa.
Mullaney’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001nza5AEAQ.
Read Mullaney’s initial ID announcement here: Mullaney.