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Remains of Ohio soldier, who died as WWII POW, found and being brought home
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ELMORE, Ohio (WJW) — A northern Ohio man who died as a prisoner of war while fighting in WWII is finally being laid to rest in his hometown this summer, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said Friday.
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U.S. Army Sgt. Howard Hasselkus, who was 24 years old at the time of his death, was reportedly accounted for in September 2024 but it was only recently that his family received a 'full briefing' from the government agency. Now his story is being released to the public.
When Japanese forces invaded the Philippines in late 1941, Hasselkus was fighting with the 192nd Tank Battalion. By May of 1942, thousands of U.S. and Filipino military members were taken as prisoners of war following the surrender of Bataan, with Hasselkus being one of them.
Hasselkus died Nov. 22, 1942, and was buried at Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in a common grave, according to camp records, the DPAA said.
The American Graves Registration Service diligently worked to identify soldiers remains following the war, but Hasselkus was never found.
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Then in 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA scientists began looking into the remains still unidentified. Using anthropological, dental and DNA analysis, the team was able to find Hasselkus.
'Today, Hasselkus is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines,' the agency said in a statement. 'A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.'
Hasselkus is being buried in Elmore, Ohio, in August.
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