MIA Update: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced six burial updates and ten new identifications for service members who have been missing and unaccounted-for from World War II and Korea. Returning home for burial with full military honors are:
-- Army Pfc. Donald M. Born, 19, of Steubenville, Ohio, was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. His unit took part in defensive action near Chinju at the southern end of the Korean peninsula. On July 30, 1950, the North Korean People’s Army launched a probing attack against Born’s unit. He went missing during the attack, but was not officially reported as missing in action until a month later. He was never listed as a prisoner of war, and the Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953. Born will be buried in Annville, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 30, 2022. Read about Born.
-- Army Pvt. Carl G. Dorsey, 19, of Moline, Kansas, was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 4, 1945, when his unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Grosshau, Germany. He was declared killed in action on Dec. 5, 1945. Dorsey will be buried in Grenola, Kansas, on Sept. 3, 2022. Read about Dorsey.
-- Navy Fireman Controlman 1st Class Hubert P. Clement, 30, of Inman, South Carolina, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Clement. He will be buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) in Honolulu, on Oct. 10, 2022. Read about Clement.
-- Army Sgt. 1st Class James A. Coleman, 22, of Hillsdale, Indiana, was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. On April 25, 1951, he was reported as missing in action while fighting against Chinese Communist Forces near the Hwachon Reservoir in modern-day Republic of Korea. His status was changed to killed in action on Oct. 3, 1952. Following the war, his remains could not be identified. Coleman will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Oct. 19, 2022. Read about Coleman.
-- Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. George B. Walker, 25, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, was assigned to 369th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. On Feb. 3, 1944, the B-17G Flying Fortress bomber on which he was serving as an engineer and turret gunner experienced general mechanical failure following anti-aircraft fire while part of a bombing mission near Oldenburg, Germany. While the crew bailed out over water, several were captured by German forces, including Walker who was sent to Stalag Luft 6 prisoner of war camp in Heydekrug, Germany. He died on April 28 when he was shot while trying to escape. He will be buried in his hometown on a date yet to be determined. Read about Walker.
-- Army Pfc. Lowell D. Smith, 24, of Battle Creek, Michigan, was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. On Jan. 21, 1945, he was part of a Browning Automatic Rifle squad when his company attacked German forces near Reipertswiller, France. Smith was missing following the unit withdrawal. In May that year, captured German records included a death report for the date he went missing. He will be buried in Augusta, Michigan, on a date yet to be determined. Read about Smith.
--Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Fay G. Teter, 17, was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force. His unit landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands in an attempt to secure the island. Teter was killed on the third day of the battle. Interment services are pending. Read about Teter.
--Marine Corps Reserve 2nd Lt. Gordon E. Thompson, 22, was assigned to Marine Fighting Squadron 224, Marine Aircraft Group 23. On Aug. 31, 1942, he was piloting one of the 26 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters on an interception mission near Guadalcanal. Thompson was one of three who failed to return from the mission. The Department of the Navy issued a finding of death on Jan. 8, 1946. Interment services are pending. Read about Thompson.
-- Army Pfc. Arthur L. Pierce, 26, was assigned to the 803rd Engineer Battalion in the Philippines, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula, when thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and held captive at Cabanatuan POW camp. According to prison camp and other historical records, Pierce died on July 19, 1942. Interment services are pending. Read about Pierce.
-- Army Pfc. Arthur C. Barrett, 27, was assigned to the 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula, when thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and held captive at Cabanatuan POW camp. According to prison camp and other historical records, Barrett died on July 19, 1942. Interment services are pending. Read about Barrett.
-- Army Cpl. Alton Christie, 18, was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 5, 1950, after his unit had been engaged by the Korean People’s Army near Osan, South Korea. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953, and his remains were determined to be unrecoverable in January 1956. Interment services are pending. Read about Christie.
-- Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Peter Timpo, 24, was assigned to 343rd Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which he was serving as the bombardier was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation Tidal Wave. His remains were not identified following the war. Interment services are pending. Read about Timpo.
-- Army Pfc. Willard H. Brinks, 24, was assigned to Company K, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat to Port Moresby, Brinks’ unit attempted to flank the enemy defensive lines stretched across Sanananda Track in northern Papua. Brinks was reported as killed in action on Nov. 22, 1942, the first day of the Allied attack. Interment services are pending. Read about Brinks.
-- Army Pvt. Myron E. Williams, 29, was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 16, 1944, when his unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany. His body was not recovered, and he was declared killed in action on Nov. 17, 1945. Interment services are pending. Read about Williams.
-- Army Air Forces Cpl. Merle L. Pickup, 27, was assigned to 308th Bombardment Group, 373rd Bombardment Squadron, stationed in Yangkai, China. In May 1944, he was a passenger on board a B-24J Liberator bomber on a ferrying mission from China to Chabua, Assam, India. The plane never made it to its destination after encountering bad weather, and the Army reported the plane as missing. Interment services are pending. Read about Pickup.
-- Army Pfc. Harry J. Hartmann, Jr., 19, was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Calvary Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 2, 1950, during fighting near Unsan, North Korea. Repatriated POWs reported he had been captured and held as a prisoner of war at Camp #5, Pyoktang, North Korea, where he died on or around March 31, 1951. Interment services are pending. Read about Hartmann.