{"id":143540,"date":"2023-06-28T06:46:08","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T10:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=143540"},"modified":"2023-06-27T22:49:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T02:49:03","slug":"three-more-accounted-fro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=143540","title":{"rendered":"Three More Accounted For"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>
Defense MIA\/POW Accounting Agency<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/blockquote>\n

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Marine Accounted For From World War II<\/h2>\n

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Raymond J. Tuhey<\/h2>\n

The Defense POW\/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Raymond J. Tuhey, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for on April 20, 2020.<\/p>\n

In November 1943, Tuhey was a member of Company B, 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Battalion, 6th<\/sup>\u00a0Marine Regiment, 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Tuhey died on the fourth day of battle, Nov. 23, 1943. He was reported to have been buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery, later renamed Cemetery 33.<\/p>\n

In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation. However, almost half of the known casualties were never found. No recovered remains could be associated with Tuhey, and, in October 1949, a Board of Review declared him \u201cnon-recoverable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2009, History Flight, Inc., a nonprofit organization, discovered a burial site on Betio Island believed to be Cemetery 33, which has been the site of numerous excavations ever since. In March 2019, excavations west of Cemetery 33 revealed a previously undiscovered burial site that has since been identified as Row D. The remains recovered at this site were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.<\/p>\n

To identify Tuhey\u2019s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the\u00a0Armed Forces Medical Examiner System\u00a0used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.<\/p>\n

Tuhey\u2019s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.<\/p>\n

Tuhey will be buried on June 5, 2023, at Arlington National Cemetery.<\/p>\n

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Pilot Accounted For From World War II<\/h2>\n

U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0Lt. James Litherland<\/h2>\n

The Defense POW\/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0Lt. James Litherland, 25, of South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 16, 2023.<\/p>\n

In February of 1944, Litherland was assigned to the 359th Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy). On February 28, Litherland was co-piloting a B-17F Flying Fortress that was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German V-2 rocket site in Bois-Coquerel, France.<\/p>\n

Before the plane crashed near the city of Le Translay, France three of the airmen parachuted successfully while the other seven crew members, including Litherland, were still on board.<\/p>\n

In 1945 American investigators reviewed German documents detailing American planes and their crew during the war. Those documents revealed six sets of remains were recovered near the crash site Le Translay and were buried in the English World War I Memorial Cemetery at Abbeville, France on March 2, 1944. In June 1945 American Graves Registration team disinterred the six sets of remains from Abbeville and interred them in the United States Military Cemetery at St. Andre, France. Five of the six sets of remains were identified the one unknown set of remains was designated as X-452 St. Andre.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In March 1947 AGRC investigators identified X-452 as being associated with Litherland but were unable to identify him and X-452 was transferred to Suresnes American Cemetery, France. \u00a0Litherland was declared non-recoverable Dec. 26, 1950.<\/p>\n

In September 2017, a DPAA Investigation Team traveled to Le Translay to locate Litherland\u2019s crash site; in August 2018, a DPAA Recovery Team recovered material evidence and osseous remains from the site, which the DPAA laboratory accessioned for analysis. In October 2019, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed the unknown remains designated X-452 St. Andre, believed to be associated with Litherland, from Suresnes American Cemetery.<\/p>\n

To identify Litherland\u2019s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the\u00a0Armed Forces Medical Examiner System\u00a0used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and autosomal DNA (auSTR), analysis.<\/p>\n

Litherland\u2019s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, an\u00a0American Battle Monuments Commission<\/a>\u00a0site in Neupr\u00e9, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.<\/p>\n

Litherland will be buried at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on a date yet to be determined.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sailor Accounted For From World War II<\/h2>\n

U.S. Navy Aviation Radioman First Class Wilbur A. Mitts<\/h2>\n

The Defense POW\/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Navy Aviation Radioman First Class Wilbur A. Mitts, 24, of Seaside, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for Feb. 23, 2023.<\/p>\n

In the fall of 1944, Mitts was the Aviation Radioman assigned to the Navy Torpedo Squadron 20, USS Enterprise. On Sept. 10, Mitts and two other crew members abroad the TBM-1C Avenger Bureau Number, 17018 took off from the USS Enterprise on a mission to conduct air strikes against enemy targets in Malakal Naval District, Palau Islands. Their aircraft was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed into water near Malakal. Efforts to recover Mitts\u2019 remains were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service, the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in Palau, concluding their search in the summer of 1947. Investigators could not find any evidence of Mitts or his aircraft.<\/p>\n

From 2003 \u2013 2018, the BentProp Project now known as Project Recover, and the Defense POW\/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) conducted six investigations resulted in the location of a site associated with the incident.<\/p>\n

In May 2019, Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research, a DPAA partner organization excavated the site and recovered remains and material evidence.<\/p>\n

In Sept. 2021, a subsequent excavation was completed by Project Recover, a nonprofit organization that works to search and recover missing Americans, where additional remains and material evidence were recovered.<\/p>\n

Remains and material evidence were sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.<\/p>\n

To identify Mitts\u2019 remains, scientists from DPAA used dental analysis. Additionally, scientists from the\u00a0Armed Forces Medical Examiner System\u00a0used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.<\/p>\n

Mitts\u2019 name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an\u00a0American Battle Monuments Commission<\/a>\u00a0site in the Philippines, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.<\/p>\n

Mitts will be buried in Seaside, California on Sept. 11, 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marine Accounted For From World War II U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Raymond J. Tuhey The Defense … Three More Accounted For<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":654,"featured_media":138969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[210],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-no-longer-missing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/654"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=143540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/138969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=143540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=143540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=143540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}