The remains of a soldier missing since World War II will be buried today in Bethlehem, PA.<\/p>\n
PVT William Yawney<\/strong><\/a>, 105th Infantry regiment, 27th Infantry Division, US Army, formerly of Freemansburg, PA, was lost during operations on Saipan during June-July 1944.\u00a0 His remains could not be located for repatriation after the war.\u00a0 In 1948, his remains were declared unrecoverable.<\/p>\n However, on 3 September 2011 a private archeological firm excavating land near Achugao Village, Saipan, located human remains.\u00a0 These remains were turned over to the Joint POW\/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC).\u00a0 Modern forensic techniques including mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) matching conclusively identified the remains as being those of PVT Yawney.<\/p>\n Rest in peace, my elder brother-in-arms.\u00a0 Welcome home at last.<\/p>\n . . . <\/strong><\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II \u2013 critical need)<\/a>, <\/strong>listed here (Korea)<\/a>, <\/strong>or listed here (Southeast Asia)<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 please read this link<\/a><\/strong> to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.<\/p>\n If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n Everybody deserves a proper burial.\u00a0 That\u2019s especially true for those who gave all in the service of this nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"