Five Are MIA No More

DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US personnel.

From World War II

• F1c Elmer T. Kerestes, 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 6 March 2017.

• 1st Lt. Robert E. Oxford, 425th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomb Group, 14th Air Force, US Army Air Forces, US Army, was lost in India on 25 January 1944. He was accounted for on 6 March 2017.

From Korea

• PFC Manuel M. Quintana, K Company, 3rd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, US Army, was lost in South Korea on 27 July 1950. He was accounted for on 4 March 2017.

• SGT Willie Rowe, L Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost in North Korea on 25 November 1950. He was accounted for on 2 March 2017.

From Southeast Asia

• Capt. Daniel W. Thomas, USAF Reserve, serving on active duty with 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron, USAF, was lost in Laos on 6 July 1971. He was accounted for on 25 February 2017.

Welcome back, elder brothers-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long.

Rest in peace. You’re home now.

. . .

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 DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

On their web site’s “Contact Us” page, DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains. The chart giving the answer can be viewed here. The text associated with the chart is short and can be viewed in DPAA’s FAQs.

If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a DNA 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: Capt. Thomas was accounted for on 25 February 2017; SGT Rowe, on 2 March 2017; and PFC Quintana, on 4 March 2017. However, their accounting was not announced on DPAA’s web site until this week.

Category: No Longer Missing