Four More Accounted For

 

Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency

 

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II

Ensign Stanley W. Allen

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Naval Reserve Ensign Stanley W. Allen, 25, killed during World War II, was accounted for on June 14, 2021.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Allen was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Allen.

 

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War

Army Sgt. 1st Class Ellis Coon

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Ellis Coon, 30, Mount Herman, Louisiana, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for Sept. 27, 2022.

In late 1950, Coon was a member of C Battery, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after his unit was engaged in the

Battle of Ch’ongch’on, in the vicinity of Kunu-ri, North Korea. Using information provided by repatriated POWs after the war, it was determined that Coon had been a Prisoner of War in Camp #5 and died of malnutrition and lack of medical care on or around Feb. 14, 1951. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death in March 1954 and declared Coon non-recoverable in January 1956.

On Dec. 21, 1993, North Korea unilaterally turned over 34 boxes of remains believed to be of U.S. service members who had died during the war. Among these remains were some reportedly recovered from Tongju-ri, Pyokdong County, North Phyongan Province—the same area as POW Camp #5. Scientific analysis by the DPAA Laboratory found that the five boxes of remains recovered from Tongu-ri contained commingled skeletal remains of several individuals.

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

Coon’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific also known as the Punchbowl Cemetery, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Coon’s burial date and location has yet to be determined.

 

Airman Accounted For From World War II

Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Peter A. Timpo

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Peter A. Timpo, 24, of Ecorse, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 20, 2022.

In the summer of 1943, Timpo was assigned to the 343rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Timpo was serving as the bombardier was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.

In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.

To identify Timpo’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Timpo’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Timpo will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on a date yet to be determined.

 

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II

Navy Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Cecil E. Barncord

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Cecil E. Barncord, 24, Topeka, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Oct. 14, 2016.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Barncord was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Barncord.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Barncord.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.

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

Barncord’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Barncord will be buried on date yet to be determined in Mossy Rock, Washington.

 

 

 

Category: No Longer Missing