DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US personnel.
From World War II
S1c Kirby R. Stapleton, 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 1 November 2018.
Sgt Dwight W. Randall, USMC, assigned to Company C, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, was lost on Tarawa on 20 November 1943. He was accounted for on 12 October 2018. (See note below.)
Pvt Fred E. Freet, USMC Reserve, assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division Fleet Marine Force, was lost on Tarawa on 20 November 1943. He was accounted for on 29 October 2018.
Pfc William E. Brandenburg, USMC Reserve, assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, was lost on Tarawa on 22 November 1943. He was accounted for on 23 October 2018.
S2c Ira N. Slaton, US Naval Reserve, assigned to the crew of the USS Colorado, was lost at Tinian Island on 24 July 1944. He was accounted for on 26 October 2018.
From Korea
CPL Frederick E. Coons, US Army, assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, was lost in South Korea on 29 July 1950. He was accounted for on 23 October 2018.
PVT Robert J. Sipes, Jr., US Army, assigned to L Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, was lost in North Korea on 30 November 1950. He was accounted for on 23 October 2018. (See note below.)
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. 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: DPAA apparently “slip-streamed” the entry for USMC Sgt Randall into their “Recently Accounted For” page listing sometime during the past 3 weeks.
As of 2 November 2018, US Army PVT Sipes’ name did not appear on DPAA’s “Recently Accounted For” page listing. However, his accounting was announced here in a recent DPAA press release.