WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Charles S. Atteberry, 26 of Wilder, Idaho, killed during World War II, was accounted for June 4, 2025.
Atteberry's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In January 1945, Atteberry was assigned to the 31st Infantry Regiment, Philippine Army on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines until 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. Atteberry was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru. On Jan. 13, after U.S. forces attacked and sank the Enoura Maru, Japanese authorities reported that Atteberry was placed aboard the Brazil Maru bound for Moji, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, where he died days later.
Witnesses among surviving U.S. POWs reported that casualties aboard the Brazil Maru were committed to the sea. However, casualty reports from the Japanese government to the International Red Cross contained numerous errors. Five individuals were marked as "discrepancies," which the American Graves Registration Service believed had died aboard the Enoura Maru. Initially, the Department of the Army recorded a date of death as Dec. 15, 1944, based on IRC reporting, but later updated it to Jan. 17, 1945.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel. In May 1946, AGRC Search and Recovery Team #9 exhumed a mass grave on a beach at Takao, Formosa, recovering 311 bodies, including those designated as designated X-546A Schofield Mausoleum #1. Following unsuccessful attempts to identify the remains, they were declared unidentifiable. They were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Between October 2022 and July 2023, DPAA disinterred Unknowns from the Punchbowl linked to the Enoura Maru, including X-546A. The remains were accessioned into the DPAA Laboratory for further analysis.
To identify Atteberry’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA analysis.
Atteberry’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Atteberry will be buried in Parma, Idaho on a date yet to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact 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 Atteberry’s initial ID announcement here: Atteberry.