More MIAs Return
DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US military personnel.
From World War II
• MM1 Harold F. Carney, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941. He was accounted-for on 21 April 2016.
• Seaman 2nd Class Vernon N. Grow, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941. He was accounted-for on 2 June 2016.
• PHM3 Howard P. Brisbane, US Navy, assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 20 November 1943 on Tarawa Atoll. He was accounted-for on 2 June 2016.
• Pfc. Charles E. Oetjen, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 20 November 1943 on Tarawa Atoll. He was accounted-for on 6 May 2016.
• Pfc. James B. Johnson, Company K, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 20 November 1943 on Tarawa Atoll. He was accounted-for on 18 April 2016.
• Pfc. James F. Mansfield, Company K, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 20 November 1943 on Tarawa Atoll. He was accounted-for on 6 May 2016.
• Pfc. Elmer L. Mathies, Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 20 November 1943 on Tarawa Atoll. He was accounted-for on 29 January 2016.
• Pfc. Roland E. Schaede, Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 20 November 1943 on Tarawa Atoll. He was accounted-for on 6 May 2016.
• Pvt. Harry K. Tye, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 20 November 1943 on Tarawa Atoll. He was accounted-for on 6 May 2016.
From Korea
• SGT Harold Spakrs, L Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, US Army, was lost on 2 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted-for on 11 May 2016.
Welcome back, elder brothers-in-arms. You’re home now.
Our apologies that your return took so long. 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 making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.
DPAA’s web site now has what appears to be a decent “Contact Us” page. The page doesn’t have instructions concerning who can and cannot submit a mtDNA sample or how to submit one, but the POCs listed there may be able to refer you to someone who can answer that question – or may be able to answer the question themselves. If you think you might possibly qualify, please contact one of those POCs for further information.
If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.
Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.
Author’s Note: DPAA is indeed “slipstreaming” delayed announcements of personnel accounting into their web page listing of personnel who were MIA and have been recently accounted for. That web page lists personnel by date accounted for, earliest first, so delayed entries do NOT show up at the top of the list. These delayed announcements account for the apparent delay in publicizing the recovery and identification of a number of the personnel above.
Category: No Longer Missing
Semper Fi
I went to DPAA’s website:
http://www.dpaa.mil/Contact/ContactUs.aspx
They have a FAQ page that answers the question regarding who can submit a mtDNA sample.
http://www.dpaa.mil/portals/85/Images/DNA.jpg
I was hoping to submit a sample to identify my missing 2nd cousin 1X removed, Corporal John Stanwood Cavagnaro. He was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was taken prisoner or killed during a massive Chinese attack near Unsan, North Korea on November 2, 1950. He was presumed dead on January 29, 1954.
Thanks, chindonya. That info became temporarily unavailable when DPAA was created and absorbed the old DPMO website’s functions. Good to see it’s available again.
I’ll use that link in future “No Longer Missing” pages.
Rest in peace in your home soil now brothers. God be with your family’s.
You can rest easy now elder brothers. Your long wait is over. Rest in Peace.
Among the Fallen at Tarawa were the Marines listed here. All were buried together but their grave site lost but later found through the efforts of History Flight http://www.historyflight.com/nw/docs/tarawa_report/8th_marines_cemetery_2.htm
One Marine listed above is misnamed. He is Harry K. Tye, not Tyle. His family moved from Kentucky to West Virginia sometime prior to 1940. The Dad, Fred, was a coal miner, according to the 1940 census. He and his wife, both 45 in 1940, had two children, Harry (16) and Delores (9). It was Harry K. Tye who Fell at Tarawa.
Thanks, 2/17 Air Cav. Corrected above.