Latest news with #AGRS
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
WWII Soldiers Finally Return Home Decades After Being Declared 'Non-Recoverable'
Staff Sgt. Eugene Darrigan, 2nd Lt. Thomas Kelly, 1st Lt. Herbert Tennyson and 2nd Lt. Donald Sheppick were among the 11 crew members of the bomber Heaven Can Wait who were killed when their plane was struck by enemy fire in March 1944 off the coast of Papua New Guinea Their remains were deemed 'non-recoverable' at the time Decades later, through the efforts of Kelly's family, authorities were able to find and excavate the crash site, where they retrieved the remains of the four crew membersThe remains of four American World War II soldiers, whose plane was shot down by enemy fire in 1944 and crashed off the Pacific Ocean, have finally been returned to their loved ones. Staff Sgt. Eugene Darrigan, 2nd Lt. Thomas Kelly, 1st Lt. Herbert Tennyson and 2nd Lt. Donald Sheppick were accounted for in September, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced. Their remains were found in 2023 by an underwater recovery team that excavated the crash site. The four soldiers were among 11 who were on board the aircraft Heaven Can Wait that took part in a bombing mission when it received anti-aircraft fire, the department said. Witnesses from other aircraft during the March 11, 1944, mission said they saw 'flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly' before the plane plunged into the waters of Hansa Bay, Papua New Guinea, killing all 11, according to the agency. Despite other aircraft circling around the crash site, no survivors from Heaven Can Wait were seen. Exhaustive searches were conducted in the battle areas and crash sites of New Guinea in 1948 following the end of the war. 'In March 1950, a board of AGRS [American Graves Registration Service] officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains' of the other Heaven Can Wait crew members, the department said. 'They were designated as non-recoverable.' At the time of his death, radio operator Darrigan, 26, was married and had a young son, the Associated Press reported, adding that navigator Sheppick, 26, and pilot Tennyson, 24, left behind pregnant wives. It was only in 2013 that the family of bombardier Kelly undertook an investigative mission to collect historical documents and eyewitness accounts about the Heaven Can Wait crew, said the accounting agency. They collaborated with Dr. Scott Althaus of the University of Illinois — who is also Kelly's first cousin removed — to help with their efforts. In a report that he wrote after a four-year investigation, Althaus suggested that the aircraft probably crashed off Awar Point in what is now Papua New Guinea, the AP reported. The report was then shared with the nonprofit Project Recover, whose team located the debris field in 2017. Then in 2023, an underwater recovery team excavated the crash site, where they retrieved 'possible osseous materials and various material evidence, to include life support equipment and identification tags. The recovered evidence was sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis,' the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said. Scientists were able to identify the remains of the four fallen soldiers using "dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence," officials added. Darrigan was buried in his hometown of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., on Saturday, May 24, the AP reported. Kelly, the bombardier, was expected to be buried in Livermore, Calif., on Monday, May 26. Meanwhile, the remains of Tennyson and Sheppick will be interred in the coming months, according to the report. 'I'm just feeling a lot of gratitude right now,' Althaus told The Washington Post. 'I'm sure I will be flooded with emotions,' he added. 'How can it be that our family is living what should be an impossible story? What made it possible was many people along the way stopping and remembering.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Susan Pineiro, Darrigan's great niece, said at the burial service for her relative, 'After 80 years, this great soldier has come home to rest," according to the AP. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Remains of local WWII veteran, POW identified -- burial set for August in Boonville
May 22—WASHINGTON — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency recently announced that U.S. Army Pvt. Harland J. Hennessey, 24, of Boonville, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 23, 2024. Hennessey's nephew John Hennessey provided a DNA swab to confirm the identification of the remains. Although Private Hennessey died before his birth, Mr. Hennessey grew up hearing of his uncle and saw pictures of him. "I know he liked to drive his jalopy around the race track," Mr. Hennessey said. "I was told he never had a license but he did it any ways." Mr. Hennessey said his uncle could have been buried in Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C. "I think he would have wanted to come back to Boonville — he had been gone so long and will be buried next to his parents." Under the care of the Trainor Funeral Home, Pvt. Hennessey will be buried in the Boonville Cemetery on Aug. 23 next to his parents Howard and Dorothy Hennessey. The Boonville Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5533, which was named in honor of Harland J. Hennessey in 1945, is planning to hold a celebration this summer. Hennessey's history Private Hennessey entered the U.S. Army from New York and served in the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation. He was stationed in the Philippines at the time of the Japanese invasion of the islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, when Hennessey was captured, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. After the surrender, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. Hennessey was among those subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp -1. The largest of these camps, the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered on Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. More than 2,500 POWs died in this camp during the war. According to prison camp and other historical records, Pvt. Hennessey died on Nov. 1, 1942. He was reportedly buried in Common Grave 704 (CG704), but complications in the burial and recovery process precluded identifying his remains immediately following the war. American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Two of the sets of remains from Common Grave 704 were identified, while the remaining eight were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as Unknowns. In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, the DPAA exhumed the Unknowns associated with CG704 for comparison to associated casualties. Laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established one set of remains as those of Pvt. Hennessey. To identify Hennessey's remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA and mitochondrial genome sequence analysis. Although interred as an Unknown in the Manila American Cemetery, Hennessey's grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Today, Hennessey is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, visit the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency website at Or learn more on social media at or
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
World War II POW/MIA from Pennsylvania identified after 80 years
WASHINGTON (WTAJ) — A Pennsylvania man who was killed in a Tokyo prison fire during World War II was identified and accounted for nearly 80 years after his death. U.S. Army Air Forces Cpl. Glenn H. Hodak of Cambridge Springs was only 23 years old when he was captured and died in the prison fire May 26, 1945, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced. While Hodak was accounted for Sept. 25, 2024, it wasn't until recently that his family was fully briefed, allowing more details about his service to be released. In March 1945, Hodak was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, when the B-29 'Superfortress' he was a gunner on was shot down on a mission to Tokyo. The agency said that Hodak was initially reported MIA (Missing In Action), and it was later learned he was captured as a POW (Prisoner Of War). Central Pennsylvania WW II Lt. accounted for nearly 80 years later Sadly, Hodak's remains were not immediately recovered nor identified after the war. American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel searched for and disinterred the remains of U.S. servicemen throughout the Pacific Theater. AGRS anticipated the recovery of 62 service members in early 1946. Hodak, and 38 others, however, were unable to be identified and ultimately entered as unknowns in the Manilla American Cemetery and Memorial, in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. The Agency reports that in March and April 2022, those 39 Unknowns were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis. Using dental and anthropological analysis along with circumstantial evidence, the Agency was able to identify Hodak's remains will be returned to Pennsylvania and buried in Spring Creek in May. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Texas soldier accounted for from World War II
Feb. 28—WASHINGTON — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Friday that U.S. Army Cpl. Ernest H. Ulrich, 26, of China, Texas, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Oct. 9, 2024. Ulrich's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared, a news release said. In late 1941, Ulrich was a member of Medical Department, 200th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Ulrich was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war. According to prison camp and other historical records, Ulrich died Nov. 22, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 807. Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three sets of remains from Common Grave 807 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns. In late 2018, DPAA exhumed the remains of nine Unknowns associated with Common Grave 807 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis. To identify Ulrich's remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y-chromosome DNA analysis. Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Ulrich's grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Ulrich will be buried in Palo Alto, California, on a date to be determined. For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490. DPAA is grateful to the ABMC and the United States Army for their partnership in this mission. For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, visit the DPAA website at or on social media at or Read Ulrich's initial ID announcement here: Ulrich.
