American and Filipino prisoners of war carry dead comrades after the Bataan Death March in May 1942. (National Archives)
The remains of a soldier who died after the Bataan Death March during World War II have been identified more than 80 years later as an Army Air Corps technician from Washington state.
Herbert F. March, 24, was identified in August, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Monday. The DPAA, which uses DNA and other advanced methods to identify previously “unknown” service members killed in wars and accidents, said the announcement was delayed so surviving relatives could be notified. March will be honored with a full military burial in Woodland, Wash., at a future date.
March was a technician 4th grade assigned to the Headquarters Squadron of the 24th Pursuit Group, now an inactive unit that was part of the American and Filipino troops defending the Philippines from Japanese forces, which invaded the islands in December 1941 after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Technician ranks during World War II had skills related to support functions such as cooks and mechanics.
After Japanese troops captured the capital of Manila, American forces withdrew to strongholds on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island, but surrendered both in April and May 1942, respectively.
March was captured on the Bataan Peninsula and reported as a prisoner of war following the surrender, the DPAA said. With no food, water or medical aid, soldiers were forced to walk 65 miles to the Cabanatuan POW camp. Survivors told of stragglers killed by guards as they failed to keep pace in what became known as the Bataan Death March.
More than 2,500 POWs perished at the Cabanatuan camp during World War II, including March, who was determined to have died July 26, 1942, according to camp records and recollections of fellow prisoners. He was buried along with other American and Filipino prisoners in a common grave at the camp.
Personnel from the American Graves Registration Service exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery after World War II ended in September 1945. The remains were moved to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum outside Manila.
In 1947, the graves registration service announced it had identified three sets of remains from the common grave. The others were declared unidentified and buried as “unknowns” at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
In March 2018, the remains found from the Cabanatuan camp were disinterred again and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify March’s remains, scientists from DPAA used “anthropological analysis” and circumstantial evidence. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA analysis, the agency said.
