Five More Return
DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US personnel.
From World War II
F3c Harold K. Costill, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS West Virginia, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 18 April 2019.
S2c Ray H. Myers, 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 18 April 2019.
PFC Dale W. Ross, US Army, assigned to Company E, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, was lost in the Solomon Islands on 14 January 1943. He was accounted for on 17 April 2019.
PFC Raymond H. Middlekauff, US Army, assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, was lost in Germany on 4 December 1944. He was accounted for on 12 April 2019.
PFC John W. Hayes, US Army, assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division, was lost in Belgium on 4 January 1945. He was accounted for on 17 April 2019.
From Korea
None
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. 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 is found in one of the 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.
Welcome Home Fallen Warriors, Rest In Hallowed Peace.
It is good that they are finding our fellow soldiers and returning them home after so many years. It will come time in the future that they will decide to further desecrate the tomb of the unknown’s and as they did to ours from Vietnam, they will open those from Korea and WWII and Identify those also unless there has been something done to protect that tomb. Yes there are families out there that need to know whose remains are in those tombs and have them laid to rest where they know they are. There are also many out there that will also never know where their relatives are other than what country. I can only wonder then what will become of this memorial to our unknowns as it will no longer hold one of our brothers. Rest in peace Gentlemen as all of you that we can find are returning home.
Welcome Home Warriors. We pay Honor to your Sacrifice. Our apologies that it took so long.
Thanks for the Posting, Hondo. We are deeply appreciative of the work you do in bring these Warriors Homecoming Stories to us. We missed you last week.
Welcome home Brothers. Rest in peace in your home soil now.
Welcome Home.
F3c Harold K. Costill, US Navy, was only 18 years old, a teenager, when he lost his life on 7 December 1941.
In 1961, the US Navy paid for a marble marker that was placed in Cedar Green Cemetery in Clayon, NJ with his name on it.
There are two nice pictures of Harold in uniform at this site as well as his grave marker:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15704955/harold-kendall-costill
His parents were Harold Elwood and Elizabeth Costill of Clayton, Glouchester County, New Jersey. His Siblings were Eugene (Gene), Robert (Bob), Allen and Joan.
Robert and Joan both shared excerpts from letters they received from Harold in 1941. The last letter they received from him was 3 December 1941:
https://www.usswestvirginia.org/veterans/personalpage.php?id=707
In 2017, Gene, his brother and former mayor of Clayton, NJ submitted his DNA to help identify Harold.
“Man, 92, Hopes Remains of Brother Killed At Pearl Harbor Could Soon Come Home”:
https://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/2017/12/family_hopeful_remains_of_nj_sailor_killed_at_pear.html
Harold is coming home. Rest in Peace, Sailor.
Salure.
Bring Them All Home.
There is a nice picture of PFC Dale W. Ross in uniform. He was only 22 years old when he gave his life for our Country. The decorations earned by PFC Dale William Ross include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56790762/dale-w-ross PFC Ross was born in 1920 in North Dakota and entered the US Army from Oregon. His Parents were William H. and Mabel Viola Warren Ross. They both are buried in Oregon. His Brothers were Irvin C, Clifford E and Calvin A. Ross. “Dale William Ross was born on June 30, 1920 in North Dakota in the United States to parents William H. Ross and Mabel Viola Ross (nee Warren). He was the third of four children; Charles Irvin Ross born in 1915, Clifford Elmer Ross “Cliff” born 1918, Dale W. Ross born 1920 and Calvin A. Ross born 1923. The family moved to Ashland in Jackson County in southern Oregon. Dale graduated Ashland High School where he was a cross country runner, had a steady girlfriend and was employed on a farm prewar.” “During World War II, all four Ross brothers served in the military. Charles and Calvin joined the U. S. Navy. Clifford and Ross joined the U. S. Army.” “On April 9, 1942 Ross enlisted in the U. S. Army as a private serial number 39307184. After recruit training in Monterrey, California he was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division “Tropic Lighting”, 35th Infantry Regiment “Cacti”, Company E. Ross was sent to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. He participated in the Battle of Mount Austen.” “On January 14, 1943 while advancing along the west slope of Hill 27 south of The Gifu near Mount Austen, Pfc was reported as Killed In Action (KIA). He was not seen after an engagement with a small Japanese patrol when shots were heard in the vicinity in which he was last seen. He was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA).” “On March 1, 1943 his mother, Mabel V. Ross received a War Department… Read more »
PFC Raymond H. Middlekauff’s Service Number 33903479, was born in 1913. He was about 30/31 years young when he went missing in the Hurgen Forest in Germany.
In late 1944, he was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, which was engaged in battle against German forces near the town of Grosshau, in the Hürtgen Forest in Germany. He was reported missing in action as of Dec. 4, 1944, when his company reorganized after a severe counterattack and he could not be accounted for.
Raymond served as a Private First Class, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, U.S. Army during World War II.
He resided in Baltimore, Maryland prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on January 17, 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Foremen and also as Married.
He was awarded the “Bronze Star” and the Purple Heart.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56301815/raymond-h-middlekauff
Rest In Peace, Soldier. Salute.
Never Forget.
Bring Them All Home.
Much Thanks, again, AnotherPat for researching out and bringing us these added stories of these brave men. It means alot to more of us than you may think. For many of us too, this could be a case of “there but for the Grace of God goes our Father, Brother, Uncle, Grandfather, ect..”
I wonder if Admin has a way of telling how many people read the posts, but don’t make a comment? Hopefully the Family Members of these returned Warriors do a Google Search on their loved one and it leads them to here. That would let them know that there are others of us who are remembering their relative.
Thanks, too for the Sand Rabbit Art on the other thread. That was cool as hell! Keep up the fine job. gabn/hbtd/rtr
“His Lord said to him, Well done, you good and faithful servant…” Matthew 25:21.
Fireman 3rd Class Harold Kendall Costill boarded the USS West Virginia as a member of the battleship’s crew on 2 August 1941. He was on board the West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. After the attack F3c Costill’s body could not be identified and he was listed as “Missing in Action” (MIA). While at the Department of Defense (DoD) in 2011 and 2012, Chief Rick Stone prepared reports on all of the West Virginia’s MIA’s using the Random Incident Statistical Correlation (RISC) System. On 17 January 2012, Chief Stone determined that F3c Costill was a Most Likely Match to only one “Unknown” buried the Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu and noted his exact grave location. The Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation researchers, using advanced law enforcement investigative techniques and sophisticated technologies not available at the Department of Defense (DoD), continued to research F3c Costill’s case and provided a comprehensive “Family Report” to F3c Costill’s family on 7 September 2015. On 13 June 2017, after over five years, the Department of Defense finally decided to act on Chief Stone’s recommendations and began disinterring all of the USS West Virginia Unknowns. F3c Costill was recovered from the Punchbowl Cemetery as indicated by Chief Stone’s research in 2012 and confirmed by the Foundation’s research in 2015. F3c Costill’s identification was officially announced by the DoD on 19 April 2019.
Welcome home Sailor! We share the joy of your family in your return! God Bless you and thanks to ALL who never forgot you and your service to our country!