20-05-2025
Shawano native and U.S. Army Air Forces Private killed in World War II accounted for
SHAWANO, Wis. (WFRV) – A Shawano native and U.S. Army Air Forces Private who was killed in World War II has been accounted for, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced.
While his Pvt. Herbert E. McLaughlin of Shawano was accounted for on December 17, 2024, the official release on Tuesday provided full details of Pvt. McLaughlin's account.
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According to the release, Pvt. McLaughlin, 31 years old at the time, was assigned to Headquarters Squadron, 17th Air Group at Hickam Airfield on Oahu, Hawaii.
After the Pearl Harbor bombings, Japanese aircraft targeted Hickam Field's aircraft, ships, barracks, supply buildings and the chapel over a four-hour attack. McLaughlin was one of the men reportedly killed during this attack.
Afterwards, Navy personnel recovered the remains of those who died, placing them in the Schofield Barracks Cemetery on December 19, 1941.
Members of the American Graves Registration Service removed the remains of American casualties from the Schofield Cemetery, taking them to the Central Identification Lab.
At the time, officials could not confirm the identity of 12 men killed in the attack, and they were subsequently buried in Honolulu at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, commonly referred to as the 'Punchbowl'. A military board later classified the unidentified individuals as 'non-recoverable,' including Pvt McLaughlin.
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In June 2019, the 12 unknown bodies were analyzed, along with circumstantial evidence. One of the bodies was then officially confirmed as Pvt. McLaughlin, whose name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
A rosette will be placed next to his name there, indicating that he's been accounted for. Pvt. McLaughlin will be buried in his hometown of Shawano at a date to be confirmed later.
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