Eight More Return Home

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

From World War II

• GM1c Arthur C. Neuenschwander, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 6 February 2017.

• SK2c Glenn G. Cyriack, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 7 February 2017.

• Mus1c Elliot D. Larsen, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 8 February 2017.

• F1c Michael Galajdik, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 3 February 2017.

• F1c William H. Kennedy, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 7 February 2017.

• S2c George T. George, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 8 February 2017.

• F3c Robert N. Walkowiak, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 3 February 2017.

From Korea

• SGT Donald D. Noehren, Headquarters and Headquarters Service Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost in North Korea on 30 November

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

Rest in peace. You’re home now.

. . .

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.

 

Author’s Note: best as I can tell, the rate abbreviations and order (by enlisted grade) above are indeed correct – e.g., ordered by date of loss, then by rank, with highest-ranking individuals first. In 1941, the Navy’s rank/rate structure was somewhat different than today; for example, all enlisted “2nd Class” rates were not necessarily of the same enlisted grade. This reference was used in sorting out the 1941 Navy rank/rate structure while ordering the list above.

Category: No Longer Missing