Eight More Are Home

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

From World War II

RM2c Floyd A. Wells, 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 2 July 2019.

PVT Laurel W. Ebert, US Army, assigned to I Company, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, was lost in Papua New Guinea on 26 November 1942. He was accounted for on 8 July 2019.

SSgt. Paul Cybowski, US Army, assigned to 373rd Bombardment Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group, US Army Air Forces, was lost in French Indochcina on 15 September 1943. He was accounted for on 9 July 2019.

AMM1c John O. Morris, US Navy, assigned to Carrier Aircraft Service Unit (CASU) 17, was lost on Tarawa on 16 December 1943. He was accounted for on 13 November 2018. (see note)

PVT James I. Trick, US Army, assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, was lost in Germany on 4 November 1944. He was accounted for on 10 July 2019.

From Korea

CPL Donald E. Angle, US Army, assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, was lost in South Korea on 25 July 1950. He was accounted for on 2 July 2019.

Pfc Grady J. Crawford, USMC Reserve, assigned to Battery M, 4th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, was lost in North Korea on 1 December 1950. He was accounted for on 28 June 2019.

PFC David C. Wilkes, US Army, assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, was lost in North Korea on 2 December 1950. He was accounted for on 28 June 2019.

From Southeast Asia

None

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

Rest easy. You’re home now.

. . .

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.

—–

Author’s Note: the original entry for AMM1c Morris’s accounting published in November 2018 regrettably had the wrong name due to an editing error. The original article has been corrected, and AMM1c Morris’ accounting is correctly announced above to ensure it receives appropriate publicity.

Category: No Longer Missing