WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Lt. Col. Louis E. Roemer, 43, of Wilmington, Delaware, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 28, 2025.
Roemer's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In early 1942, Roemer was assigned to Chemical Warfare Service, U.S. Army Forces in the Far East on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines until 1945 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. Roemer was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru. The Japanese reported that, after U.S. forces attacked and sank the Enoura Maru, Roemer was placed aboard the Brazil Maru, bound for Moji, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. On Jan. 22, 1945, during the last stage of transport, Roemer reportedly died of acute colitis. However, since historical and contemporary evidence indicate that the Japanese government-reported Brazil Maru casualties list contains errors, he conceivably could have died at any point during this December 1944 to January 1945 POW transport, including the Jan. 9 attack on the Enoura Maru.
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. Following unsuccessful attempts to identify the remains, they were declared unidentifiable. They were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Between October 2022 and July 2023, DPAA disinterred Unknowns from the Punchbowl linked to the Enoura Maru. The remains were accessioned into the DPAA Laboratory for further analysis.
To identify Roemer’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial, Y-chromosome and autosomal DNA analysis.
Roemer’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.
Roemer will be buried in Pittsburgh 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 War 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.
Roemer’s personnel profile can be viewed at Lt. Col. LOUIS E ROEMER - Service Member Profile
Read Roemer's initial ID announcement here: Roemer.