Three More Return Home
DPMO has announced the identification of three US MIAs from World War II.
- PFC Lawrence S. Gordon, Reconnaissance Company, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, US Army, was lost on 13 August 1944 near Ranes, France. PFC Gordon was accounted for on 27 May 2014. He will be buried with full military honors during the summer of 2014 in Canada. The date and location of his funeral are not yet available.
- PFC Cecil E. Harris, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 2 January 1945 in France. PFC Harris was accounted for on May 29, 2014. He will be buried with full military honors. The date and location of his funeral are not yet determined.
- SSG Robert E. Howard, 450th Bomber Squadron, 322nd Bomber Group, Medium, 9th Air Force, US Army Air Forces, was lost on 16 April 1945 in Germany. SSG Howard was accounted for on May 28, 2014. He will be buried with full military honors on 19 June 2014 in Moulton, Iowa.
Welcome home, my elder brothers-in-arms. Rest in peace.
Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,890 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from recovered remains against mtDNA from a matrilineal descendant can assist in providing a positive ID for those recovered remains.
Unfortunately, JPAC has recently reorganized their web site and no longer seems to provide by-name lists of the MIAs for whom there is a need for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). So if you have a relative that is still MIA from World War II, Korea, or SEA – please consider reading this JPAC fact sheet to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.
If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample and have a relative from World War II, Korea, or SEA who is still MIA, please contact JPAC (there is an 866 number on the flier linked above) and arrange to submit a sample. By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.
Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.
Category: No Longer Missing
Welcome home my elder brothers. God rest your souls in your home soil now and hold you in His loving hands. God bless your families as well.
Welcome back, men.
Sleep well.
From a grateful who never forgets…thank you.
Rest in peace, men, in the soil of your homelands. Thank you for your service.
Wasn’t Gordon the one who was found wearing a German Raincoat so he was buried as an unknown in their cemetery?
“SSG Robert E. Howard”
No relation, I presume, to the pulp-era author of the original Conan the Barbarian stories?
In any case, welcome home, all. Rest in Eternal Peace.
Proud of having found him last summer in France. Proud, he could be identified.
Alsace greet Pfc Cecil E. Harris. Thank you for your fight here and rest in peace in your country.