Two More Return

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

From World War II

• Pfc Harry C. Morrissey, Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, USMC, was lost in the Solomon Islands on 9 October 1942. He was accounted for on 11 December 2017.

From Korea

• PFC Albert E. Quintero, D Battery, 15th Anti-aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Self-propelled Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost in North Korea on 2 December 1950. He was accounted for on 14 December 2017.

From Southeast Asia

• None

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

You’re home now. Rest easy.

. . .

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.

Note: The dates of accounting noted above are correct, though they are roughly a month ago. These accountings were not announced on DPAA’s website until on or after 10 January 2018.

Category: No Longer Missing