Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Boegli, W.)

Release No: 18-262 Dec. 17, 2018 PRINT | E-MAIL
WASHINGTON — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Pvt. William A. Boegli, 25, of Sedan, Montana, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Aug. 14, 2018.

In September 1944, Boegli was a member of Company L, 332nd Infantry Regiment, 81st Infantry Division, invading Angaur Island in the Palau Island chain. After Boegli’s regiment successfully captured Red Beach on the northeastern shore, they pushed westward across the island. On Sept. 30, 1944, Boegli was killed while attempting to lead a group of litter bearers to evacuate wounded servicemen. His remains were not recovered following the war.

On Oct. 18, 1944, graves registration personnel buried an unidentified set of remains designated X-8 in Pleasant Grove on Angaur Island. The American Graves Registration Service subsequently disinterred X-8 and shipped the remains to the Central Identification Point in Manila, where they were redesignated X-3788 Manila No. 2. The remains were sent to Fort McKinley, now the Manila American Cemetery, for permanent burial.

On Jan. 20, 2016, DPAA, along with representatives from the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, disinterred X-3788.

To identify Boegli’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission and the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,766 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Boegli’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site, along with others missing from WWII. Although interred as an Unknown in Manila American Cemetery, Boegli’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the ABMC. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For family contact information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

Boegli will be buried May 25, 2019, in Bozeman, Montana.

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 call (703) 699-1420/1169.