Three More Accounted For

Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency

Airman Accounted for from WWII

U.S. Army Air Forces Sergeant Irving R. Newman

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Sergeant Irving R. Newman, 22, of Los Angeles, California, missing in action during World War II, was accounted for June 20, 2023.

In May 1943, Newman was assigned to the 343d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force, in the European Theater. On May 6, Newman along with the other nine crewmembers of a B-24D Liberator were participating in a bombing mission of Reggio di Calabria harbor, in Sicily. While heading to the target, their plane began experiencing engine trouble forcing the pilots to make a course correction away from the main bomber group, directly into enemy anti-aircraft fire. During an emergency landing the plane caught fire and crashed into the water near Benghajsa Point, Malta, injuring at least five crewmembers. Nine airmen survived the incident, but Sgt Newman was not able to be rescued and his remains were not recovered following the war.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In 1949, a board of officers reviewed the AGRS field investigations for 82 personnel missing from the Mediterranean area, including Sgt Newman. The board recommended the individuals be designated non-recoverable. The Identification Branch of the Office of the Quartermaster General approved the recommendation on 6 September 1949.

In recent years, the University of Malta and a private company located the wreckage of a B-24D near Benghajsa Point, Malta, at a depth of 180 feet. Beginning in 2018, a partner organization supported by DPAA archaeology recovered material evidence, life support equipment, and suspected human remains from this crash site.

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

Newman’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Sicily-Rome 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.

Newman will be buried at a place and time to be determined later.

Pilot Accounted for from World War II

U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Edward T. McGuire

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Edward T. McGuire, 22, of Chicago, Illinois, killed during World War II was accounted for June 30, 2023.

In the summer of 1943, McGuire served with the 415th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which McGuire was serving as a pilot, crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire 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 for examination and identification.

To identify McGuire’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

McGuire’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.

McGuire will be buried on October 28, 2023, in Alsip, Illinois.

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War

U.S. Army Sgt. Willie J. Baty

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Willie J. Baty, 20, of Mexia, Texas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Feb. 8, 2023.

In the fall of 1950, Baty was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Sept. 14 when his unit was forced to withdraw from the Masan area of the Pusan Perimeter, 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 to be nonrecoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.

The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps (AGRSG) was responsible for recovering, identifying, and repatriating those lost during the Korean War.  In late 1950 they recovered a set remains designated as Unknown X-159 near Masan. After extensive analysis by the Central Identification Unit-Kokura in Japan was unable to identify X-159 the remains were declared unidentifiable. In Dec. 1950, 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 Punchbowl. In March 2019, DPAA disinterred X-159 as part of Phase One of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

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

Baty’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.

Baty was buried in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 15, 2023.

 

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