Three More Return

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

From World War II

• PFC Lloyd J. Lobdell, Company A, 192nd Tank Battalion, US Army, was apparently lost in the Philippines on 19 November 1942 (see note at end of article). He was accounted for on 26 July 2017.

• LTJG Irvin E. Rink, US Naval Reserve, assigned to VF-27, US Navy, was lost in the Solomon Islands on 4 August 1943. He was accounted for on 25 July 2017.

From Korea

• CPL Dow F. Worden, A Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost in South Korea on 29 September 1951. He was accounted for on 24 July 2017.

From Southeast Asia

• None

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: in their “Recently Accounted For” list, DPAA does not list a date of loss for PFC Lobdell. However, the DPAA News Release concerning Lobdell’s accounting indicates he was taken POW “after the surrender of Corregidor” (Corregidor surrendered on 6 May 1942). He was later moved to the Cabanatuan Prison Camp and is known to have died there of illness while a POW on 19 November 1942. The date of loss noted above is his known date of death, as it is unclear precisely which date PFC Lobdell was taken POW.)

Category: Politics