WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Navy Carpenter’s Mate 2nd Class William R. Burns, 25, of Raleigh, North Carolina, killed during World War II, was accounted for on June 30, 2025.
Burns's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
On June 8, 1944, Burns was assigned to the destroyer USS Glennon, which struck a mine off the coast of Quinnéville, France, forcing 16 sailors overboard. Ultimately, the majority of the crew had abandoned the vessel, but a few remained on board for salvage operations, including Burns. Two days later, on June 10, the Glennon was struck by multiple artillery barrages from German forces on shore, eventually causing the ship to sink late in the evening. Following the attack, 38 sailors had been wounded and 25 were missing, including Burns. Other than the rescued sailors thrown overboard from the initial mine strike, there is not report of any recovery of other missing sailors. Burns' remains were not accounted for, and he was deemed non-recoverable on April 14, 1949.
In 1957, pieces of the Glennon were hauled to shore by salvagers. A local resident was searching through the larger sections of wreckage and found human remains within the forward portion of the ship. The remains were turned over to American officials and processing determined the remains to be those of at least two individuals, subsequently designated X-9296 and X-9297. After unsuccessful efforts to identify the remains, they were interred on March 4, 1959, at Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupré, Belgium.
In 2021, DPAA researchers began an effort to associate unresolved sailors from the Glennon based on historical documentation of the remains removed from the ship’s wreckage. By August 2022, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed unknown remains X-9296 and X-9297 from Ardennes American Cemetery for comparison with unaccounted-for sailors from Glennon.
To identify Burns’ remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial, Y-chromosome, and autosomal DNA analysis, as well as nuclear single nucleotide polymorphism testing.
Burns’ name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupré, Belgium, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Burns will be buried in Chadbourn, North Carolina, on a date yet to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Service Casualty office at (800) 443-9298.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Navy for their partnership in this mission.
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, https://www.linkedin.com/company/dodpaa, https://www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or https://x.com/dodpaa.
Burns’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001nzVt4EAE.
Read Burns's initial ID announcement here: Burns.