Two More Accounted For
Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency
Airman Accounted for from WWII
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Robert J. Ferris Jr.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Robert J. Ferris Jr., 20, of Long Island, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 22, 2023.
In December of 1942, Ferris was assigned to the 401st Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy), Eighth Air Force. On December 20, Ferris was a crewmember onboard a B-17F “Flying Fortress,” nicknamed Danellen, when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German aircraft factory at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Ferris’s aircraft was last seen spinning towards the ground, crashing near the village of Bernières-sur-Seine, France. Only one airman parachuted successfully, while the other eight crew members, including Ferris, were still on board. A villager witnessed the crash and confirmed there was only one survivor. The War Department issued a finding of death for Staff Sgt. Ferris on Sept. 23, 1943.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred four sets of remains later designated as X-83, X-84, X-85, and X-86 St. Andre from Evreux cemetery. They were unable to identify the remains and were interred at the Normandy American Cemetery.
In 2011, a family member of one of the Danellen crew contacted the Department of Defense after visiting the crash site and interviewing a witness who had artifacts belonging to the Danellen. In April 2011, DPAA historians re-analyzed the unknowns associated with the crew and determined there was enough evidence to pursue the case. In October that year, a DPAA Investigation Team traveled to Bernières-sur-Seine to interview the witness and learned the crash site was completely destroyed. In March 2019, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) exhumed the unknown remains designated X-83, X-85, and X-86 St. Andre believed to be associated with the crew of the Danellen, including Staff Sgt. Ferris, from Normandy American Cemetery.
To identify Ferris’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Ferris’s name is recorded on the memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Ferris will be buried in New Bern, North Carolina, on a date to be determined.
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War
U.S. Army Cpl. Daniel De Anda
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Daniel De Anda, 22, of Pico, California, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for Jan. 10, 2023.
In late 1950, De Anda was a member of G Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, 8th U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, after his unit attempted to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, two POWs who returned during Operation Big Switch reported De Anda had been a prisoner of war and died in March 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #5.
In the late summer and 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. None were associated with Tuttle.
One set of remains disinterred from Camp #5 returned during Operation Glory was designated Unknown X-14598 and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In August 2019, the DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14598 as part of Phase Two 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 De Anda’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.
De Anda’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s 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.
De Anda will be buried March 15, 2024, in Whittier, California.
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, or 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
Welcome Home brothers. May this provide comfort to your families.
Well done. Let’s just keep updating those names on walls with rosettes!
Welcome home Brothers. Rest in peace now.
Welcome home, men.
Rest well.
*Slow Salute*
Welcome Home.
May you and your families find peace.
Thanks Dave.
I’m always amazed at stories about B-17 crewmembers being
identified and finally put to rest in peace.
My dad was a gunner/togglier in a G model with twin 50’s under
the chin. I got to fly in the “Nine-O-Nine” with him a few years
before it was tradgically lost.
Keep up the work Dave. It is deeply appreciated.
Welcome Home, Gentlemen, our apologies that it took so long. We will Salute your Service and Pay Honors to your Sacrifices. We will say your names…We will be your Witnesses. Every Fallen Service Member deserves, at the very least, a Marked Resting Place…and the undying appreciation of a Grateful Nation. Account for them all.
I will echo 26limabeans’ comment on the amazement that these remains can be recovered and then identified after these 80 some odd years. The technicians are dealing with tee tiny misc pieces of parts and distant relative’s DNA. Those folks deserve a Big Salute, too.
I will further echo ‘beans’ appreciation to Dave for bringing us these stories. Most of us that lost Compatriots in Service in this day and age were able to know what happened and to render Honors at that time. These families never really knew. A very good friend of mine lost her Brother while he was serving on USS Little during WWII. Tho presumed dead and lost when Little went down fighting, the family never really knew and grieved their loss until they passed away. Many that were lost that way will never be recovered and that makes each one that we can ID that much more special.
Thank you, again, Dave.
Welcome home, men. Rest in peace.