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News Release

Press Release | Nov. 22, 2019

USS Nelson Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Jordan, S.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 1st Class Stewart Jordan, 20, of Coeburn, Virginia, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 27, 2019.

(This identification was initially published Aug. 29, 2019.)

In 1944, Jordan was assigned to the USS Nelson, which was anchored off the coast of Normandy, France. He was killed June 12, 1944, when the ship was hit by enemy fire. Following the war, his remains could not be identified.

On Nov. 3, 1944, a graves registration team learned of remains that had washed ashore on “Roger White Beach,” in Normandy. The remains were noted to have a tattoo on the arm, depicting the sinking of the USS Tucker, where Jordan had been assigned prior to its sinking in August 1942. The remains were declared unidentifiable and designated as Unknown X-144 Sainte-Mère-Église #2, and were subsequently interred in what is now the Normandy American Cemetery. Of the 13 crew members unaccounted for from the USS Nelson, two previously served on the USS Tucker, including Jordan.

In September 2018, DPAA and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed X-144 and accessioned the remains to the laboratory.

To identify Jordan’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission and to the U.S. Army Regional Mortuary-Europe/Africa 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 72,638 still unaccounted for from World War II with approximately 30,000 assessed as possibly recoverable. Jordan’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with the others missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For funeral details and family contact information, contact the Navy Service Casualty Office at (800) 443-9298.

The date and location for Jordan’s burial have yet to be determined. For future funeral information, visit www.dpaa.mil.

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.

Jordan’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001RFjDyEAL