Army Rumour Service

Register a free account today to join our community
Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site, connect with other members through your own private inbox and will receive smaller adverts!

Six More US MIA returned to their families

Six more brothers return to their families

From World War II

M1c Leonard F. Smith, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941. His accounting was announced on 19 May 2020.

F1c Louis J. Tushla, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941. His accounting was announced on 19 May 2020.

Pfc Mervin D. Galland, USMC, assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, was lost on Tarawa on 22 November 1943. His accounting was announced on 19 May 2020.

From Korea

CPL R. B. Cherry, US Army, assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, was lost in North Korea on 27 November 1950. His accounting was announced on 20 May 2020.

SGT William E. Cavender, US Army, assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, was lost in North Korea on 28 November 1950. His accounting was announced on 20 May 2020.

SGT Jesse D. Hill, US Army, assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, was lost in North Korea on 2 December 1950. His accounting was announced on 21 May 2020.

 
There's been a pause in the C-17A flights into South East Asia on what are known REPAT flights recently, no doubt attributable to Covid-19.

These flights collect suspected MIA remains from Laos and Vietnam, with the occasional one into Cambodia or Myanmar.
 
From the USS Oklahoma Wiki page

In April 2015, the Department of Defense announced, as part of a policy change that established threshold criteria for disinterment of unknowns, that the unidentified remains of the crew members of Oklahoma would be exhumed for DNA analysis, with the goal of returning identified remains to their families. The process began in June 2015, when four graves, two individual and two group graves, were disinterred. In December 2017 100 had been identified; at the end of fiscal year 2018 181 Oklahoma unknowns had been identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. On 26 February 2019, the 200th unknown was identified. On December 6, 2019 the US Department of Defense announced that 236 remains had been identified from the USS Oklahoma and that 152 had yet to be identified

As above, admirable policy.
 
Where did the Pearl Harbour ones come from? Do they still have people looking there or was it some kind of accidental find?
 
Where did the Pearl Harbour ones come from? Do they still have people looking there or was it some kind of accidental find?
Im not sure, but I think some remains too badly damaged with fire or blast were interred in a mass grave. With the advent of DNA testing I believe there is a slow methodical process of trying to identify individuals going on.
 
One of our great military leaders, Orde Wingate, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His remains and those of the other passengers and crew of the USAAF B25 bomber in which he was travelling could not be separately identified, and there was an agreement between the US and UK that where unidentified bodies from both countries were interred in a multiple grave, then the country which had most nationals buried would have the right to interment. There were five Americans and four Brits aboard the Mitchell. Their bodies were initially buried at the crash site, then moved to a British cemetery at Imphal, and then in 1950 disinterred once again and taken to Arlington.

Wingate's family were not given any notice of the removal to Arlington, and were opposed to burial in the US. They were supported by Winston Churchill, but to no avail.

Now, Arlington is a very fine place in which to be buried, and the Americans were quite correct in claiming all nine sets of remains. However, given the advances in scientific procedures which permit the identification of long dead remains, as evidenced by the fine principles demonstrated by the accountings mentioned in this thread, perhaps it is time that Wingate's remains (if they can indeed be identified) should be reburied for the final time. Appropriate locations might be UK, or India/Burma (in accordance with the IWGC/CWGC principle of burying war dead at or near the place of death.) Wingate's memory is highly
1590403512128.png
honoured in Israel, and it's probably where he would wish to be buried. (Edit: Note the small pebbles on the top of the headstone in the image below - a Jewish practise. Not certain if these are for Wingate, but I wouldn't be surprised.)

1590403512128.png


The mass grave at Arlington. Of the other Brits Borrow was Wingate's adjutant/ADC. Emeny was a correspondent for the News Chronicle, Wills for the Daily Herald.
Hodges was the pilot, Wanderer - can you believe it - was the navigator. Sadowski, air gunner, Hickey radio operator and McIninch was flight engineer.
 
Last edited:
One of our great military leaders, Orde Wingate, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His remains and those of the other passengers and crew of the USAAF B25 bomber in which he was travelling could not be separately identified, and there was an agreement between the US and UK that where unidentified bodies from both countries were interred in a multiple grave, then the country which had most nationals buried would have the right to interment. There were five Americans and four Brits aboard the Mitchell. Their bodies were initially buried at the crash site, then moved to a British cemetery at Imphal, and then in 1950 disinterred once again and taken to Arlington.

Wingate's family were not given any notice of the removal to Arlington, and were opposed to burial in the US. They were supported by Winston Churchill, but to no avail.

Now, Arlington is a very fine place in which to be buried, and the Americans were quite correct in claiming all nine sets of remains. However, given the advances in scientific procedures which permit the identification of long dead remains, as evidenced by the fine principles demonstrated by the accountings mentioned in this thread, perhaps it is time that Wingate's remains (if they can indeed be identified) should be reburied for the final time. Appropriate locations might be UK, or India/Burma (in accordance with the IWGC/CWGC principle of burying war dead at or near the place of death.) Wingate's memory is honoured in Israel, and it's probably where he would wish to be buried.

View attachment 476308

The mass grave at Arlington. Of the other Brits Borrow was Wingate's adjutant/ADC. Emeny was a correspondent for the News Chronicle, Wills for the Daily Herald.
Hodges was the pilot, Wanderer - can you believe it - was the navigator. Sadowski, air gunner, Hickey radio operator and McIninch was flight engineer.
Distant relation to Wingate lived in my Somerset village. Retired Wg Cdr RAF died a few years ago, a fine gentleman.
 
One of our great military leaders, Orde Wingate, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His remains and those of the other passengers and crew of the USAAF B25 bomber in which he was travelling could not be separately identified, and there was an agreement between the US and UK that where unidentified bodies from both countries were interred in a multiple grave, then the country which had most nationals buried would have the right to interment. There were five Americans and four Brits aboard the Mitchell. Their bodies were initially buried at the crash site, then moved to a British cemetery at Imphal, and then in 1950 disinterred once again and taken to Arlington.

Wingate's family were not given any notice of the removal to Arlington, and were opposed to burial in the US. They were supported by Winston Churchill, but to no avail.

Now, Arlington is a very fine place in which to be buried, and the Americans were quite correct in claiming all nine sets of remains. However, given the advances in scientific procedures which permit the identification of long dead remains, as evidenced by the fine principles demonstrated by the accountings mentioned in this thread, perhaps it is time that Wingate's remains (if they can indeed be identified) should be reburied for the final time. Appropriate locations might be UK, or India/Burma (in accordance with the IWGC/CWGC principle of burying war dead at or near the place of death.) Wingate's memory is honoured in Israel, and it's probably where he would wish to be buried.

View attachment 476308

The mass grave at Arlington. Of the other Brits Borrow was Wingate's adjutant/ADC. Emeny was a correspondent for the News Chronicle, Wills for the Daily Herald.
Hodges was the pilot, Wanderer - can you believe it - was the navigator. Sadowski, air gunner, Hickey radio operator and McIninch was flight engineer.
I understand what you're saying and you make many good points, but I'd argue that after being interred in Arlington for 70 years, it's time to let Wingate rest in peace.
 
I understand what you're saying and you make many good points, but I'd argue that after being interred in Arlington for 70 years, it's time to let Wingate rest in peace.

Point taken. My late Dad's take on Wingate was that he was "bloody barmy." Mind you, as a medic, my Dad was very disturbed by the level of disease and suffering of the men who made Wingate's name, the Chindits.
 

New posts

Top