Households of two West Virginia veterans acquired just a little little bit of closure when it was introduced this week that their stays have been recognized after a number of many years.
Sgt. William L. Harper, a Korean Struggle soldier from White Sulphur Springs, and Pvt. Ira Warren from Seth, a World Struggle II veteran, have been each recognized final yr due to the Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company (DPAA). Harper was accounted for on Aug. 7 whereas Warren was accounted for on June 11.
DPAA held off on informing the general public till the troopers’ households may very well be absolutely briefed on the findings.
Recognized Many years Later
Warren, 26, served within the Philippines with the Headquarters Firm, 194th Tank Battalion, in accordance with the DPAA.
In December 1941, the Japanese army invaded the islands, kicking off an intense interval of combating by way of April 9, 1942, when Allied troops on the Bataan peninsula have been compelled to give up. Virtually a month later, on Could 6, Corregidor Island additionally fell to Japanese forces.
Following the give up, Warren reluctantly joined hundreds of captured members of each the U.S. and Filipino armies on the Bataan Dying March—a grueling 65-mile trek to the Cabanatuan POW camp. Many died alongside the way in which, subjected to abuse and malnutrition.
Based mostly off POW and historic data, Warren’s date of loss of life was listed as July 19, 1942. Based on the DPAA, the Cabanatuan camp claimed the lives of greater than 2,500 POWs. They have been buried on the camp’s cemetery.
After the warfare, Warren’s stays—together with 39 different troopers—have been recovered from Widespread Grave 312. Out of these 40, 28 our bodies have been unidentified, buried as “Unknowns” on the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM).
In January 2018, the “Unknowns” from Widespread Grave 312 have been faraway from the cemetery in Manila by the DPAA’s Cabanatuan Undertaking for DNA testing. It took greater than seven years, however in 2025, utilizing trendy DNA strategies, Warren’s stays have been correctly recognized.
Greater than eight many years have handed since Warren’s loss of life. However later this spring, the Army personal will lastly be laid to relaxation at a cemetery in Bloomingrose, West Virginia. The DPAA mentioned that whereas Warren was marked as unidentified, the American Battle Monuments “took meticulous care” of his grave for 70 years.
MIA Soldier Coming Dwelling
Harper, 21, served within the Korean Struggle with D Battery, 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery Automated Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. On Feb. 13, 1951, he was reported lacking in motion (MIA) following the Battle of Hoengsong in South Korea.
Harper, based mostly on DPAA accounts, was taken prisoner by enemy forces and despatched to Prisoner of Struggle Camp 1 in Changsong, North Korea. He died there as a POW in August 1951.
In 1954, throughout Operation Glory, North Korea agreed to unilaterally hand over stays of American troopers to the U.S. Stays have been recovered from POW camps, remoted graves and United Nations cemeteries. Harper’s stays, nevertheless, have been declared non-identifiable and the veteran couldn’t be recovered on the time.
Harper’s unidentified stays have been despatched to Honolulu, Hawaii, and buried on the Nationwide Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, extra generally generally known as the Punchbowl.
In July 2018, the DPAA launched into a mission to disinter 652 unidentified Korean Struggle troopers from the Punchbowl to attempt to establish them utilizing DNA science.
In February 2020, DPAA scientists started analyzing the stays of a Korean Struggle soldier, and after greater than 5 years, these stays have been recognized as Harper’s.
The DPAA mentioned Harper is predicted to be buried in White Sulphur Springs later this yr. For many years, his title had been listed amongst many others from the Korean Struggle on the Punchbowl’s Courts of the Lacking.
Now that his stays have been discovered, his title is not going to be eliminated although a rosette might be positioned subsequent to it, signifying Harper has been recognized.
