Three More Accounted For

Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency

Soldier Accounted for from WWII

U.S. Army Pfc. Lex L. Lillard

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Lex L. Lillard, 20, of Tucson, Arizona, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for May 22, 2023.

In late 1941, Lillard was a member of the Medical Department of Manila and Subic Bays in the Philippines, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.  Lillard was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Lillard died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Twelve of the sets of remains from Common Grave 312 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In January 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Lillard’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) analysis.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Lillard’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

Lillard will be buried in Jay, Oklahoma, on September 23, 2023.

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War

Army Sgt. Richard M. Sharrow

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Sgt. Richard M. Sharrow, 22, of Marienville, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Jan. 24, 2023.

In July 1950, Sharrow was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on July 25 after his unit sustained heavy casualties while defending against the North Korean Army’s advance near Yongdong, South Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered, and there is no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953, and his remains were determined non-recoverable in Jan. 16, 1956.

The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps (AGRSG) was responsible for recovering, identifying, and repatriating those lost during the Korean War. In the spring of 1951, they recovered a set of remains designated as Unknown X-1023 near Yongdong. After extensive analysis by the Central Identification Unit-Kokura in Japan was unable to identify X-1023 the remains were declared unidentifiable. In April 1955, the remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, with other Korean War Unknowns.

In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. On Oct. 21, 2019, the DPAA disinterred X-1023, as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Sharrow’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis as well as chest radiograph comparison. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Sharrow’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, 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.

Sharrow will be buried in Marienville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 25, 2023

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War

U.S. Army Pvt. Alvin D. Thurman

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. Alvin D. Thurman, 21, Broken Bow, Oklahoma, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for March 30, 2023.

In late 1951, Thurman was a member of 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. Thurman was reported killed in action Nov. 6 after his unit’s withdrawal from Hill 200 in the present-day Korea Demilitarized Zone. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death in Nov. 28, 1951 and declared Thurman non-recoverable in Jan. 16, 1956

Following the war, the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) tasked with recovering, identifying, and repatriating deceased U.S. service members. In December 1951 the AGRS recovered a set of remains designated X-5106 Tanggok south of Hill 200. On June 27, 1955, the remains were declared unidentifiable and subsequently transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP,) known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and interred as an Unknown.

On Nov. 5, 2018, following thorough historical and scientific analysis, X-5106 Tanggok was disinterred from the Punchbowl and sent to the laboratory for analysis.

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

Thurman’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.

Thurman will be buried in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, on Oct. 21, 2023.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

To see the most up-to-date statistics on DPAA recovery efforts for those unaccounted for from the Korean War, go to the Korean War Accounting page on the DPAA website at: https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaFamWebKorean.

 

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 https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.

Category: No Longer Missing