Another Six Are Accounted For
DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US personnel.
From World War II
MM1c George Hanson, 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 19 December 2018.
1st Lt. Burleigh E. Curtis, US Army, assigned to 377th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group, US Army Air Forces, was lost in France on 13 June 1944. He was accounted for on 20 December 2018.
PFC William F. Delaney, US Army, assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, was lost in Germany on 22 November 1944. He was accounted for on 17 December 2018.
2nd Lt. Lynn W. Hadfield, US Army, assigned to 642nd Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Division, 9th Air Force, US Army Air Forces, was lost in Germany on 21 March 1945. He was accounted for on 13 December 2018.
Sgt. Vernon L. Hamilton, US Army, assigned to 642nd Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Division, 9th Air Force, US Army Air Forces, was lost in Germany on 21 March 1945. He was accounted for on 14 December 2018.
From Korea
CPL John G. Krebs, US Army, assigned to L Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, was lost in South Korea on 11 July 1950. He was accounted for on 19 December 2018.
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 72,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; over 1,500 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA); 126 remain unaccounted for from the Cold War; 5 remain unaccounted for from the Gulf Wars; and 1 individual remains unaccounted for from Operation Eldorado Canyon. 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.
Category: No Longer Missing
Welcome home.
Seventy-four years ago last month, William F. Delaney was killed in action about two miles ease of Zweifall, Germany on the eve of Thanksgiving 1944. He, his company commander, and others lost their lives in the infamous battle of the Hurtgen Forest when their company was targeted by effective artillery. Known but to God until recently, his remains now carry a name for us. Welcome home.
Welcome home, brothers.
The A-26 Invader, a Douglas-built light bomber was introduced into the Pacific and European Theaters in 1944. On 21 March 1945, an Invader on a mission over Germany was struck by anti-aircraft fire, lost a wing, and spiraled down. Its three-man crew, consisting of Sgt. John Kalausich, 2nd Lt. Lynn W. Hadfield, and Sgt. Vernon L. Hamilton were lost. In its announcement of the positive ID of the remains of Hadfield and Hamilton, DPAA thanks History Flight, the private concern that has done, and continues to do, tremendous work in finding MIAs. http://historyflight.com/nw/
Welcome home.
In 1930, the Curtis family of Middlesex county, Massachusetts numbered seven: Dad, Mom, three boys and two girls. All had been born in Maine. The then-eight year old, Burleigh, was the middle child whose life would close in faraway France in 1944. There is a memorial dedicated to him near where he died. It reads, “He died for liberty on June 13th 1944 at 2125 while bombing this bridge with his P-47 Thunderbolt.” See it here: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=841&MemID=1135
In July 1950, John Krebs and his fellow soldiers in Korea were part of Task Force Smith. They faced incredible odds and were ill prepared for the onslaught that awaited them. On 11 July, it was Krebs’ unit that was to bear the brunt of the overwhelming communist attack. Like too many of his fellow soldiers, he was lost and then lost to time. No longer is that true of him. Welcome home.
Said a war widow once, “Missing is not dead. Missing is worse than dead.”
Welcome Home.
Two of these warriors gave their all less than two months before the end of the war in Europe. All these deaths bother me, but for some reason those warriors who died near the end of a conflict bother me the most. All of them bother me, but
Welcome home, Warriors, I am humbled by your ultimate sacrifice.
Thanks for the updates, Hondo. And thanks for the info on those who were lost, 2/17.
We appreciate the work you do.
Welcome home, brothers, our apologies that it took this long. Rest in peace.