Three More Accounted For

Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency

Airman Accounted for from WWII

U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. Doyle W. Sexton

Force Pvt. Doyle W. Sexton, 23, of Salt Lake City, Utah, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for July 13, 2023.

In late 1942, Sexton was a member of the Headquarters 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.  Sexton 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, Sexton 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 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 early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Sexton’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.

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

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

 

Airman Accounted for from WWII

U.S. Army Air Force Sergeant White S. Goings Jr.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Sergeant White S. Goings Jr., 22, of Auburn, Nebraska, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for June 27, 2023.

In late 1942, Goings was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron (Bomb Sq), 19th Bombardment Group (Bomb Gp), 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.  Goings 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, Goings 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. Twenty-two 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 early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Goings’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.

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

Goings will be buried in Auburn, Nebraska, in June, 2024.

 

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War

U.S. Army Cpl. R. V. Leo Short

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. R. V. Leo Short, 19, of Seminole, Oklahoma, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for June 22, 2023.

In November 1950, Short was a member of George Company, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. He went missing in action after his unit was forced to retreat from Kunu-ri in the vicinity of Unbong-dong, North Korea. Due to intense fighting in the area, his body could not be recovered at that time. In 1953, several POWs returned during Operation Big Switch reported Short had been a prisoner of war and died in March, 1951, at Prisoner of War Camp #5.

In the fall of 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #5, to the United Nations Command. However, Short’s name did not appear on any of the transfer rosters and the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, did not associate any repatriated remains with him. Short was determined non-recoverable in January 1956.

In 2018, DPAA’s request to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns—in seven phases—from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific—also known as the Pounchbowl—in Honolulu, Hawaii, was approved. In September 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14743, a set of remains returned during Operation Glory, as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

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

Short’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.

Short will be buried in Seminole, Oklahoma, on December 9, 2023.

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