Category: No Longer Missing

DPMO has announced the identification of one US MIA from Korea, and has provided updated information concerning the burial of one former US MIA from SEA.  Additionally, published reports indicate a second US MIA from Korea has also been identified.

PFC Donald C. Durfee, M Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team, US Army, formerly of  Painesville, Ohio, was reported to have been KIA on on 2 December 1950 near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.  His remains were not recovered at the time.  PFC Durfee’s remains were repatriated in 1954, but could not be identified using the technology of that era; they were interred as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of, the Pacific (AKA “the Punchbowl”) in 1955.  By 2013, advances in technology yielded realistic possibility of positive identification of many unknown remains buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.  PFC Durfee’s remains were among those exhumed.  Using modern forensic techniques, his remains were positively identified, and PFC Durfee was declared accounted for on 6 March 2014.  His remains will be returned to his family and will be buried with full military honors at a future date yet to be determined.

Published news accounts indicate that CPL William Franklin Day, C Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, formerly of Ballard County, Kentucky, has also been accounted for.  CPL Day was lost at Chosin Reservoir near Hill 1221 on or about 2 December 1950.  His remains were later repatriated and were recently positively identified using modern forensic techniques.  He will be buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Ballard County, Kentucky, on 5 April 2014.

Welcome home, my elder brothers-in-arms.  Rest now in peace.

. . .

On 12 March 2014, DPMO also announced funeral arrangements for SSG Lawrence Woods, Headquarters, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces, US Army, formerly of Clarksville, Tennessee.  SSG Woods was lost 24 October 1964 near the Cambodian border when the C-123 in which he was a passenger was downed by enemy fire.  He was accounted for on 27 September 2013; this fact was  previously announced by DPMO.  SSG Woods will be buried in a group ceremony honoring those lost in that crash on 21 March 2014 at Arlington National Ceremony.

. . .

Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,890 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.

DPMO has announced the identification of two US MIAs from from Korea.

• PFC James R. Holmes, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, US Army was lost 1 December 1950, in North Korea. He was accounted for on 14 January 2014. He will be buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery in May 2014.
• CPL Cristobal Romo, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 12 December 12, 1950, in North Korea. He was accounted for on 13 January 2014. He will be buried with full military honors in Riverside, CA, on March 22, 2014.

Additionally, DMPO has announced funeral arrangements for CPL Billy M. McIntyre.  Identification of CPL McIntyre’s remains was previously announced last year.

A belated welcome home, my elder brothers-in-arms.  Rest now in peace.

. . .

Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.

Several of you sent us links to the story of 93-year-old Clara Gantt, whose husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph E. Gantt went to the war in Korea 63 years ago and whose remains just made it home this week to his waiting wife;

“He told me if anything happened to him he wanted me to remarry. I told him no, no. Here I am, still his wife,” she said at Los Angeles International Airport, where his remains were carried from a jetliner by military honor guard.

Gantt was a field medic who went missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950 during the Korean War while serving with Battery C, 503rd Field Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division, according to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office in Washington, D.C.

According to the office, elements of the 2nd Infantry Division were attacked by greater numbers of Chinese forces near the town of Kunu-ri, North Korea. The division disengaged and withdrew, fighting its way through a series of Chinese roadblocks. Numerous U.S. soldiers were reported missing that day in the vicinity of Somindong, North Korea.

After a 1953 exchange of prisoners of war, returning U.S. soldiers reported that Gantt had been injured in battle, captured by Chinese forces and died in a POW camp in early 1951 from malnutrition and lack of medical care. His remains were only recently identified. Information on when they were found was not immediately available from the missing personnel office.

I guess military wives have to really be committed to the relationship.

DPMO has announced the identification of two US MIAs from Korea.

• CPL Cletus R. Lies, Medical Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US. Army, was lost 28 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for 7 December 2013. He will be buried with full military honors in Bremen, ND, in the spring of 2014.

• CPL Joe W. Howard, Battery A, 503rd Field Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 1 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for 5 December 2013.  He will be buried with full military honors in Jacksonville, FL, on 9 January 2014.

Welcome home, elder brothers-in-arms.  Rest now in peace.

. . .

Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.

DPMO has announced the identification of two US MIA from Korea.

• SFC Joseph E. Gantt, C Battery, 503rd Field Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 30 November 1950 in the vicinity of Somindong, North Korea. He was accounted for on 26 November 2013. He will be buried will full military honors in Inglewood, CA, on 28 December 2013.

• Cpl. William A. Newton, Headquarters Service Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 30 November 1950, in North Korea. He was accounted for on 20 November 2013. He will be buried with full military honors in Kountze, TX, on 20 December 2013.

Welcome home, my elder brothers-in-arms. Rest in peace.

. . .

Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.

DPMO has announced the identification of one US MIA from Korea.

PFC Jerry P. Craig, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team (RCT), US Army, formerly of Panhandle, TX, was reported Missing In Action (MIA) on 2 December 1950 near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. PFC Craig’s remains were among those returned to US custody in 1954, but could not be identified at that time; he was buried as an “Unknown” in the National Cemetery of the Pacitic, HI. Due to advances in forensic technology, in 2012 the chance of identifing PFC Craig’s remains using current forensic techniques was evaluated as being “likely”.  His remains were exhumed and were definitively identified.

He was reportedly 17 at the time of his death.

PFC Craig will be buried 19 December 2013, in Leesville, LA.

Rest in peace, my elder brother-in-arms. Welcome home.

. . .

Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.

DPMO has announced the identification of two US MIAs from World War II and one US MIA from Korea.

• 1LT  Louis L. Longman, 433rd Fighter Squadron, 475th Fighter Group, 5th Air Force, US Army Air Forces, was lost on 16 April 1944 in Papua New Guinea.  He was accounted for on 1 November 2013.  He will be buried with full military honors in Clinton, IA, in the spring of 2014.
• CPT Franklin B. Tostevin, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, US Army, was lost on 20 March 1945 when his F-6P aircraft crashed near Eigen, Germany.  He was accounted for 30 October 2013.  He will be buried with full military honors at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, CO, on 13 December 2013.
• CPL George W. Conklin, Jr., Company I, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 3 December 1950 near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.  He was accounted for 30 October 2013.  He was buried with full military honors in Phelps, NY, on 9 November 2013.

Welcome home, my elder brothers-in-arms.  Rest in peace.

. . .

Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,900 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.