Three More Come Home
During October, DPMO announced the identification of one US MIA from World War II, one US MIA from the Korean War, and one US MIA from Southeast Asia. Regrettably, I missed these announcements at the time they occurred.
• Capt Richard W. Vincent, D Company, 2nd Battalion, 18th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost 20 November 1943 on Tarawa. He was accounted for 21 October 2014.
• PFC Anthony R. La Rossa, L Company, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 13 February 1951 in North Korea. He was accounted for Oct. 20, 2014.
• Capt Richard L. Whitesides, 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron, 34th Tactical Group, 13th Air Force, USAF, was lost 26 March 1964 in Vietnam. He was accounted for 21 October 2014.
All of these belatedly returned brothers-in-arms will be buried with full military honors. Information concerning the dates and locations of their interments is not readily available.
Welcome home, my elder brothers-in-arms. Rest in peace.
. . .
Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 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; they no longer seems to provide by-name lists of the MIAs for whom there is a need for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) samples to assist in possible identification of remains. 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 see if they already have a mtDNA sample for your missing relative. If not, please 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, boys.
Rest well.
You are finally home. Rest easy. God Bless.
Rest In Peace on your home soil now Brothers. You gave your all for it. God be with your families now.
Welcome home, gentlemen.
Have an MIA uncle killed on the same day at Tarawa as Capt. Vincent. The JPAC/USMC already has my DNA, maybe soon!
Captain Vincent was KIA on the first day of the Battle of Tarawa, 20 November 1943. Like so many Marines who fell in that vicious and terrible battle, his body was likely buried in a temporary cemetery. After the war, graves registration either found many remains to be unidentifiable or that grave sites had been lost to the exigent needs during the war.
Captain Vincent was born in New York on January 25, 1918 and relocated with family to Massachusetts sometime thereafter. He attended Massachusetts State College (now the UMass at Amherst) and was a member of the 1941 graduating class. His parents erected a tombstone in his memory at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Westfield, Massachusetts where they were later buried and where he may now join them. Captain Vincent’s tombstone bears this inscription: “Gave his Life At Tarawa. We live by deeds Not Years.”
Anthony LaRossa, forever 19, was from Brooklyn, NY. He was memorialized in Long Island National Cemetery (Suffolk County) where his marker is among those in a section reserved for those whose bodies were never recovered, who were buried at sea, or who were never identified. He was among many soldiers who were MIA/KIA in a particularly horrific engagement with Chinese forces at Hoengsong (Massacre Valley)in February 1951. US Fallen were stripped of their winter clothes while others, taken captive, were forced to strip and then were executed.
Welcome home, soldier.
Air Force Captain Richard L. Whitesides was piloting a Bird Dog when he was shot down near Quang Tri. He was not alone. His spotter was Army Col. Floyd James Thompson, who survived the crash and became the longest-held POW during the Vietnam war and US military history.
Welcome home, Captain.
Please see this tribute to Captain Whitesides. http://veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1518
I had the honor of taking a flight with Captain Richard L Whiteside from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Before we departed the captain of our flight read the story of captain Whiteside and I was truly blessed to have this experience.