After 80 years, with assist from the Air Power, Henry Bordner lastly returned to Montana.
On April 15, an airman with the a hundred and twentieth Airlift Wing at Nice Falls Air Nationwide Guard Base, transported the stays of Army Pvt. Henry David Bordner to Montana, the place he can be buried in Butte, his hometown.
Bordner endured an excellent deal earlier than he died. Serving within the Pacific, he was captured by Japanese forces, changing into a prisoner of warfare (POW). He was pressured to participate within the brutal Bataan Dying March. After his loss of life in captivity, Bordner’s stays went unidentified for many years till lastly being accounted for by the Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company (DPAA) on April 2, 2025.
“This mission represents one thing greater than a single flight,” stated Col. John Salotti, a hundred and twentieth Operations Group commander. “It displays our nation’s unwavering dedication to by no means go away a service member behind and to deliver each one among them dwelling.”
Bordner’s stays had been introduced dwelling by a C-130H plane. Identified for its swift mobility and fight readiness, it took on a special mission in Montana.
“We fly missions everywhere in the world, however this one carries a special weight,” Salotti stated. “We’re fulfilling a promise to a soldier and his household that his service and sacrifice won’t ever be forgotten.”
Dying March to POW Camp
Serving as a member of the 194th Tank Battalion within the Philippines, Bordner and his unit fought Japanese forces for months after they invaded the islands in December 1941. Lastly, the Allies had been pressured to give up the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, adopted by Corregidor Island lower than a month later.
Hundreds of American and Filipino navy members had been seized and brought to POW camps, together with Bordner. From April 9 to April 17, Bordner joined 76,000 different prisoners as they trekked 66 miles within the grueling Bataan Dying March, culminating on the Cabanatuan POW camp. Greater than 2,500 wouldn’t survive within the jail.
Following his loss of life on Oct. 20, 1942, Bordner joined different unknown troopers buried within the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery, Widespread Grave 701, within the Philippines.
Lastly, greater than eight many years later, forensic science helped positively determine Bordner’s stays.
Flying him from the Philippines again to Montana was deeply private to the flight crew, Salotti stated.
“Our function is to execute the mission with the very best degree of professionalism, but additionally with respect,” Salotti stated. “Each element issues as a result of that is somebody’s member of the family, and somebody who answered the decision when the nation wanted him.”
Following his return to Butte, Bordner was welcomed dwelling with a dignified switch ceremony because the neighborhood honored one among their very own. The ceremony was coordinated by the Montana Nationwide Guard, collaborating with casualty help personnel and Butte officers to verify Bordner acquired full navy honors.
“For his household and for the individuals of Montana, that is about closure,” Salotti stated. “For us, it’s about guaranteeing that nobody is forgotten.”
Bordner is one among many as soon as unidentified troopers lastly being recognized and returned to the U.S., due to a broader effort to search out them. The soldier can be buried in Butte after a navy funeral at a later date.
