Eight Come Home
DPMO has announced the identification of two US MIAs from World War II; three US MIAs from Korea; and three US MIAs from Southeast Asia.
- Pvt Jack M. Redman, Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, USMC, was lost 20 November 1943 on Tarawa. He was accounted for 20 December 2014.
- Maj. Peyton S. Mathis, 44th Fighter Squadron, 13th Fighter Command, US Army Air Forces, was lost 5 June 1944 in the Solomon Islands. He was accounted for 16 October 2014. (The author regrets missing the earlier announcement of Maj. Mathis’ identification.)
- SGT Joseph M. Snock, Jr., Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, US Army, was lost 30 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for 5 January 2015.
- PFC Norbert G. Hurt, A Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team, US Army, was lost 2 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for 20 October 2014. (The author regrets missing the earlier announcement of PFC Hurt’s identification.)
- CPL Robert Higgins, C Battery, 15th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 13 February 1951 in South Korea. He was accounted for 6 January 2015.
- Col. William E. Cooper, 469th Tactical Squadron, 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, USAF, was lost 24 April 1966 in Vietnam. He was accounted for 22 December 2014.
- SFC Class James W. Holt, C Company, 5th Special Forces Group, US Army, was lost 7 February 1968 in Vietnam. He was accounted for 10 January 2015.
- Capt. David Chorlins, 602nd Special Operations Squadron, 34th Tactical Group, USAF, was lost 11 January 1970 in Laos. He was accounted for 17 January 2015.
All will be buried with full military honors. Information on individual funeral arrangements is not currently available.
You’re no longer missing, my elder brothers-in-arms. Welcome home; rest now 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
Your duty is done and you have finally returned home. Rest in peace.
Rest in peace to all of these heroes. I have worn a bracelet for SFC James Holt for over thirty years. I will now attempt to return it to his family.
SFC Holt was last seen at Lang Vei killing tanks.
http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/h/h061.htm
Hell of a battle.
“I understand interment is planned for Arlington at a date TBD”
Welcome back home Sergeant. Not forgotten.
COL. William E. Cooper.
U.S. Army 1939-1942
U.S. Army Air Forces 1942-1946
U.S. Air Force Reserve 1946-1951
U.S. Air Force 1951-1966
World War II 1941-1945
Cold War 1945-1966
Vietnam War 1965-1966 (KIA)
Flew the B-24 in WWII China/Pacific.
Flew the F-105 in Vietnam out of Thailand.
Distinguished Flying Cross, Qty. 2.
Air Force Cross, posthumously awarded.
Welcome back home sir. Not forgotten.
Thanks for posting this. Many thanks gentlemen. I pray we may be worthy.
Thank-you to all that have a part in finding and bringing home our fallen!
May your families have closure and may you rest in peace!
God bless and hold close each of you now as you rest in your home’s soil. Thank you all for giving the last full measure of devotion to our country. God bless and be with your families now in their time of grief and mourning.
(As an aside, I have often wonder about these families. Who had to come to some kind of peace in order to go forward with something which resembled a normal life. How I cannot fathom. Then after years of this semblance of peace, in whatever way they found and held onto it, to have these deep pains of heart, long scarred over, wounded anew. It is something which breaks my heart to think of and moves me to tears. I just cannot imagine. God bless them all.)
Lt. Col. William Earl “Coop” Cooper was a legend- he flew B-24s in the USAAF during WWII and had survived numerous close encounters with North Vietnamese AA fire before being brought down on that fateful mission. RIP, sir & Godspeed
Col. William E. Cooper will be buried full military honors April 23rd 1pm Arlington National Cemetary.
Correction- that’s Col. William E. Cooper- received his promotion while declared MIA before his status changed in 1972.
From a grateful nation that never forgets…Welcome home heroes!
GDC,
Thanks for posting the info. I’ve read about Lang Vei battle several times over the years. What a horrific shootout.
Welcome home to all of these heroes. Home at last.
Welcome Home, Warriors. Bless your souls, and enjoy Heaven, you’ve done your time in hell.
Rest In Peace.
I usually try to provide some glimpse of the men who fell when these announcements are published at TAH. It helps me not to pass them by but to learn something about those I can, to recall that they were men who had lives and people who loved them—yet, put it all aside to serve our country, and gave their lives in that service. Take Marine Jack Redman, for instance. He was born on 17 November 1923 and was raised in a cash poor but love-rich home in Watseka, Illinois. He was the eldest of four boys raised by Guy and Hazel Redman. All of the brothers were exceptional multi-sport athletes. For Jack, his athletic prowess meant a scholarship to the University of Illinois; but the war interrupted and he left the athletic field for the battlefield. He was killed on Tarawa and his body, like so many others who fell there, was hastily buried and his grave lost. One of his brothers, Merrill, never gave up on Jack and he worked many years to find him, including traveling to Tarawa himself. That little brother of Jack’s is now 85 or 86 and, at last, both he and Jack can rest easy.
[…] The Defense Prisoner of War-Missing Personnel Office has announced the identification of eight service members previously missing-in-action. […]
Welcome Home Brave Soldiers, YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN. As stated above, I pray we are worthy of your sacrifice. ….dust…in…my…eyes…
[…] The Defense Prisoner of War-Missing Personnel Office has announced the identification of eight service members previously missing-in-action. […]