More Lost are Identified

DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US military personnel:

From World War II

• ENS Ensign John C. England, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, US Navy, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941.  He was accounted for on 6 May 2016.

• ENS Ensign William M. Finnegan, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, US Navy, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941.  He was accounted for on 9 May 2016.

• Seaman 1st Class William E. Welch, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, US Navy, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941.  He was accounted for on 1 April 2016.

• Seaman 2nd Class Lewis L. Wagoner, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, US Navy, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941.  He was accounted for on 18 February 2016.

• Seaman 2nd Class James N. Phipps, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, US Navy, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941.  He was accounted for on 21 March 2016.

• Pfc. John Saini, Company, H, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on Tarawa Atoll on 20 November 1943.  He was accounted for on 23 April 2016.

• Pvt. Palmer S. Haraldson, Company C, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on Tarawa Atoll on 22 November 1943. He was accounted for on 25 April 2016.

From Vietnam

• Maj. Dean A. Klenda, 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron, USAF, was lost on 17 September 1965. He was accounted for on  1 March 2016.

Additionally, Jonn has written an article about  one individual I apparently did not cover previously:

• MM1 John E. Anderson, assigned to the crew of the Landing Craft Tank (LCT), Mark 5, Hull #30, US Navy, was lost at Omaha Beach, France, on 6 June 1944.  He was accounted for on 10 March 2016.

Welcome back, elder brothers-in-arms. Our apologies that your return and identification took so long.

Rest now in peace.  You’re home.

 . . .

Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from recovered remains against mtDNA from a matrilineal descendant can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

DPAA’s web site now has what appears to be a decent “Contact Us” page. The page doesn’t have instructions concerning who can and cannot submit a mtDNA sample or how to submit one, but the POCs listed there may be able to refer you to someone who can answer that question – or may be able to answer the question themselves. If you think you might possibly qualify, please contact one of those POCs for further information.

If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.

Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.

Category: No Longer Missing