Remains of WWII Soldiers Identified After 80 Years

The remains of several American soldiers who died in World War II have recently been identified and will be returned home for burial, providing long-awaited closure for their families. Pvt. Harland Hennessey of Boonville, New York, was captured during the fall of Bataan, endured the Bataan Death March, and died as a prisoner of war in the Philippines in 1942; his remains were identified through DNA and forensic analysis and will be buried in his hometown. Pvt. William E. Calkins of Oregon, who also died in a Japanese prison camp after the Bataan Death March, was similarly identified and will be returned home. Pvt. Roman Cherubini, a member of Merrill’s Marauders killed in Burma in 1944, will be interred with military honors in California after his remains were identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). These cases highlight advances in DNA technology and the ongoing efforts of the DPAA to account for missing American service members, though tens of thousands from World War II remain unaccounted for.