More Return Home

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

From World War II

• Pfc. George H. Traver, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 20 November 1943 on Tarawa Atoll. He was accounted-for on 24 May 2016.

• Pvt. Dale R. Geddes, Company H, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 20 November 1943 on Tarawa Atoll. He was accounted-for on 13 April 2016.

From Korea

• MSG Charles J. Brown, L Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, US Army, was lost on 2 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted-for on 29 June 2016.

• SFC Lawrence Smith, A Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, US Army, was lost on 12 February 1951 in South Korea. He was accounted-for on 6 July 2016.

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

You’re home now. Rest in peace.

. . .

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 DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

On their web site’s “Contact Us” page, DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains. The chart giving the answer can be viewed here. The text associated with the chart is short and can be viewed in DPAA’s FAQs.

If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a DNA 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.

 

Notes:
1. Hat-tip to TAH reader chindonya for links to DPAA’s FAQ page and the chart of eligible DNA donors.
2. The delay in acknowledging the accounting-for of Marines Traver and Geddes here was due to delay in the public announcement of their change in status. Neither individual’s name appeared on the DPAA website until this week.

Category: No Longer Missing