The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced last week that the remains of two World War II soldiers and two Korean War soldiers have been identified.

•U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Marcus A. Engesser, 21, of Vallejo, Calif., who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 27, 2023.

•U.S. Army Pvt. Cecil T. Hinson, 20, of Rock Hill, So.C., who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Nov. 15, 2023.

•U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Bryan Myers Jr., 21, of Cobden, Ill., killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Feb. 27, 2024.

•U.S. Army Pfc. Thomas A. Smith, 17 of Grant, Mich., killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Sept. 22, 2023.

As of May 2023, more than 80,000 Americans remain missing from WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the Gulf Wars/other conflicts. Out of the total, approximately 75% of the losses are located in the Indo-Pacific region, and over 41,000 of the missing are presumed lost at sea (such as ship losses and known aircraft water losses).

Engesser

In late 1942, Engesser was a member of Company L, 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines during World War II when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Engesser was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs died in the camp.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Engesser died Sept. 23, 1942, and was buried along with other prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 707.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed the remains at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated them to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Nine sets of remains from Common Grave 707 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as unknowns.

In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 707 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Engesser’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Engesser will be buried in Vallejo, Calif., on a date to be determined.

Hinson

In summer 1942, Hinson was a member of the Army’s Chemical Warfare Service when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula and of Corregidor Island.

Hinson was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered, and he was among those subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March. He was held at the Cabanatuan POW camp.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Hinson died July 28, 1942, and was buried along with other prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 215.

In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 215 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Hinson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y Chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

Hinson will be buried in Rock Hill, S.C., on a date to be determined.

Myers

In Sept. 1950, Myers was a member of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, during the Korean War. He was killed in action while his unit was defending the Pusan Perimeter in South Korea. The exact circumstances of his death were unknown, and his remains were not accounted for during or after the war.

In 1950, the remains of an American soldier were recovered from a foxhole on the east side of Mt. Chulmol, near Haman, South Korea. Investigators estimated the death to have occurred in early September but were unable to make a positive identification. The remains, designated as Unknown X173 Masan, were initially interred in the United Nations Military Cemetery Masan, before ultimately being transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), in Honolulu, Hawaii.

To identify the remains, scientists from DPAA used chest radiograph and other circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Myers’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Myers will be buried in Elwood, Ill., on a date to be determined.

Smith

Smith was a member of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Aug. 2, 1950, when his unit took part in defensive action near Chinju at the southern end of the Korean peninsula. Read about him here.