Another Two Return

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

From World War II

GySgt Arthur B. Summers, USMC, assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, was lost on Tarawa on 23 November 1943. His accounting was announced on 6 January 2020.

PVT Penn Franks, Jr., US Army, assigned to G Company, 371st Infantry Regiment, 92nd Infantry Division, was lost in Italy on 10 February 1945. He was accounted for on 24 June 2019. (see note)

From Korea

None

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.

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Author’s Note: Per DPAA’s website, PVT Franks’ was accounted for on 24 June 2019. However, the initial public announcement of that fact did not occur until 8 July 2019.

Unfortunately, as I recall at the time DPAA was still ordering its “Recently Accounted For” web page by date of accounting vice date of public announcement. Due to the 2 week delay between PVT Franks’ accounting and its initial public announcement I missed the publication of his accounting. It was not until I performed a year-end “No Longer Missing” recheck for 2019 earlier this week that discovered the fact that PVT Franks’ had been accounted for in mid-2019.

Also per DPAA, PVT Franks was buried at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, on 16 August 2019.

Category: No Longer Missing