Four More Accounted For

Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency

 

Airman Accounted for from WWII

U.S. Army Air Forces Pfc. Glenn A. Harris

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Pfc. Glenn A. Harris, 26, of Monterey, California, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for July 7, 2023.

In late 1941, Harris was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 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.  Harris 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 #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Harris died July 26, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 225.

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. Three of the sets of remains from Common Grave 225 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In March 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Harris’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), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

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

Harris was buried in Bradley, California, on Sept. 30, 2023.

Pilot Accounted For From WW II

U.S. Army Air Forces 1^st Lt. George W. Winger

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1^st Lt. George W. Winger, 25, of Columbus, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for January 24, 2023.

In the summer of 1943, Winger was assigned to the 66th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Winger was serving as the pilot 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 for examination and identification.

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

Winger’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.

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

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War

U.S. Army Sergeant Stanley Turba

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Sergeant Stanley Turba, 27, of Russellton, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for June 30, 2023.

In April 1951, Turba was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in a firefight with Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces in the vicinity of the Hwachon Reservoir, near the village of Yang-gu, South Korea, on April 26. Due to the fighting, his body could not be recovered at that time, and there was never any evidence that he was a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Feb. 23, 1954.

After the implementation of the Korean War Armistice, the Republic of Korea began efforts to account for war losses. The Ministry of National Defense Agency for Killed in Action Recovery and Identification (MAKRI) was developed to work alongside DPAA. Over the years several investigations into various locations were conducted, including the search for missing men associated with site FSC 479-F, where Turba is believed to have fallen.

Between 2013 and 2017, FSC 479-F was investigated several times, with no positive matches for Sgt. Turba. In April 2021, MAKRI returned to the site and came across remains near Hill 909. The remains were carefully exhumed and sent to a lab for testing. The following October, MAKRI turned over these remains to DPAA where they were sent to our laboratory for analysis and possible identification.

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

Turba’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.

Turba will be buried in Columbus, Ohio, on a date to be determined.

Soldier Accounted For From World War II

U.S. Army Pfc. Roy J. Searle

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Roy J. Searle, 22, of Providence, Rhode Island, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 27, 2022.

In December 1944, Searle was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division. His unit crossed the Saar River on Dec. 6 and attempted for the next several days to capture and hold two heavily defended towns of Pachten and Dillingen, Germany. Searle was mortally wounded during enemy engagement on Dec. 9, and was reported to have died of his wounds. In mid-December 1944, the 90th Infantry Division was ordered to withdraw to assist the American effort in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. The tactical situation prevented the 357th Infantry from recovering the remains of all of its fallen before relocating.

Searle’s body was among those not recovered.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Pachten-Dillingen area from 1946 to 1950 but were unable to recover or identify Searle’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in October 1951.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Pachten-Dillingen area, DPAA historians analyzed documentation related to a set of unidentified remains, designated X-4650 St. Avold, recovered in 1946 from a civilian cemetery in Reimsbach, Germany., Several remains recovered from that cemetery were members of the 90th Infantry Division killed at Pachten and Dillingen, and buried by German forces after the fighting. Historians determined that the X-4650 remains could be associated with Searle. The remains, buried as an Unknown at the Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in St. Laurent, France, were disinterred in June 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Searle’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and 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.

Searle’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in, St. Avold, France, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Searle will be buried Sept. 13, 2023, in Lake Worth, Florida.

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