Military (Former and Present) Funerals and Repatriations of MIAs Remains

[Kamaji]

WWII sailor remains returned to NJ nearly 80 years after battle crash

By Angela Barbuti
July 8, 2023

After almost 80 years, a World War II sailor’s remains once declared “non-recoverable” were returned to his New Jersey home.

Anthony Di Petta, a Nutley, N.J., resident who served as a US Navy aviation ordnanceman during World War II, was brought home on Friday, the Department of Defense said.

The 24-year-old’s plane was shot down by enemy fire in September 1944 while he was on a mission in the Western Pacific.

The plane was conducting air strikes against enemy targets in Malakal Naval District, Palau Islands, when it crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

The Grumman TBM-1c Avenger was last seen spinning violently at 5,000 feet.

*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/07/08/wwii-sailor-from-njs-remains-returned-after-nearly-80-years/

[SZonian]

 
RIP

[mountaineer]

 

[rangerrebew]

Remains of WWII soldier from Boston identified after 79 years
By Alyssa Guzman
July 12, 2023 6:16pm  Updated

Wing O Hom
Wing O Hom, 20, of Boston, an Army private, who went missing in action nearly 80 years ago, has finally been identified after his body was exhumed in Italy and sent to the US for testing last year.
 
An Army private, who went missing in action nearly 80 years ago, has finally been identified after his body was exhumed in Italy and sent to the US for testing last year.

Wing O Hom, 20, of Boston, was serving in Company B, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division when he was reported missing on Feb. 2, 1944, in Cisterna di Latina, roughly 45 miles outside of Rome, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

His body wasn’t discovered until 1946 in Ponte Rotto, three miles from Cisterna di Latina, by the American Graves Registration Company.

He was found with no identification and was transferred to the Central Identification Point in Nettuno.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/12/remains-of-wwii-soldier-wing-o-hom-identified-after-79-years/

[rangerrebew]

 

[Kamaji]

Wow.

[rangerrebew]

Pilot bodies returned home after going missing in Vietnam 54 years ago
By
Miguel Ortiz
Updated on
Jul 19, 2023
 
 
Decades after they went missing in Vietnam, Col. Ernest Leo De Soto and Capt. Frederick Mervyn Hall were finally accounted for.

To date, over 1,060 service members lost in the Vietnam War have been identified through the tireless efforts of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Nearly 52 years after they went missing near Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, Col. Ernest Leo De Soto and Capt. Frederick Mervyn Hall were finally accounted for. Another two years later, De Soto finally returned home.
 
Born on December 30, 1931, De Soto was raised in San Francisco, California. During the Korean War, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Turning service into a career, De Soto earned a commission as an officer and became a fighter pilot. On April 12, 1969, De Soto flew an F-4D Phantom II with the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 336th Tactical Fighter Wing. With Hall in the back seat and another aircraft on his wing, De Soto took off from Da Nang Air Force Base, Vietnam on a strike mission.
 
De Soto's wife said that, "He loved to fly, and he loved being an American, that was his life." (DPAA)

When the mission was canceled, both aircraft ascended through heavy cloud cover. That's when the other aircrew noticed that De Soto and Hall were nowhere to be seen. Although an aerial search and rescue effort located the crash site, there was no sign that either airman survived. Moreover, heavy enemy activity in the area prevented a ground search. A subsequent investigation revealed that De Soto and Hall's Phantom crashed into a mountain ridge.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/military-news/pilots-body-returned-home-after-going-missing-in-vietnam-54-years-ago/

[rangerrebew]

 

[PeteS in CA]

They were buried in Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, the burial place of Admirals Nimitz, Spruance, and Lockwood, and of countless "ordinary" seamen and PFCs.

[sneakypete]

Although an aerial search and rescue effort located the crash site, there was no sign that either airman survived. Moreover, heavy enemy activity in the area prevented a ground search. A subsequent investigation revealed that De Soto and Hall's Phantom crashed into a mountain ridge.

@rangerrebew

Code for they were flying bombing missions inside Laos,Cambodia,or North VN.

"We" (the US Military) almost always sent in teams to try to rescue shot-down pilots regardless of where they were flying when shot down,but not when they were shot down in Laos,Cambodia,or North VN,and "overflies" indicated there was no chance of their being any survivors.

[sneakypete]

@mystery-ak

Myst,is there ANY chance of sometimes starting a dedicated thread about burial ceremonies for MIA's,and WHERE and WHEN they will be taking place?

I am NOT going to write that I would "like" to go to any within driving distance of where I live,because that would be a lie.

I DO feel compelled to pay my respects to these long-lost heroes if I ever get the chance,though.

The sad,sad,truth is that the actions of some of these pilots are the only reason that I and others I knew did manage to make it back home,and I flat-out OWE them the debt of paying my respects in person if possible.

Everybody likes to think the "zoomies" had an easy life of luxury,dropping bombs on the enemy  from thousands of feet up in the air,and while that WAS true SOME OF THE TIME,at other times they were coming in so low the people on the ground could read the lettering on the cockpits while recieving enemy ground fire,and I don't give a damn WHAT your standards of courage are,THAT took some serious stones!

[rangerrebew]

@sneakypete

Good idea!  About 20 years ago, a SEAL from this area was killed and his remains flown back for burial.  The cemetery was about 15 miles from the airport down a highway that narrowed to two lanes about 5 miles from the airport.  The route that was to be taken was announced before hand and on the day his body returned, the road was lined on both sides with people saluting and waving American flags.  It was a moving tribute.

[rangerrebew]

He chased bin Laden. He jumped from planes. He deployed to Afghanistan at 71.
 

An image of Sergeant Major (retired) William “Billy” Waugh is displayed in a slide show during USSOCOM’s memorial ceremony for Waugh on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at MacDill Airforce Base in Tampa.

Andrew Long
Tampa Bay Times
(TNS)

TAMPA — In Billy Waugh’s final years, Gen. Bryan Fenton, the commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, made Waugh an offer he knew he’d find tempting.

“Billy, you look really fit,” Fenton said. “Why don’t you come back, and let’s go get back in with our troops. Let’s go jump out of some planes. Let’s go riding around Tampa.”
 
By Angelino's Coffee

Waugh’s wife, Lynn, had to interject.

“Don’t say that,” she said. “He’ll do it.”

Waugh, a longtime military special operative nicknamed the “Godfather of the Green Berets” who lived in Lutz, died in April at 93. He was honored with a memorial at MacDill late last month surrounded by hundreds from around the special operations community.

https://warisboring.com/he-chased-bin-laden-he-jumped-from-planes-he-deployed-to-afghanistan-at-71/

[PeteS in CA]

A Stickied thread for such news.

[sneakypete]

Billy Waugh  was something special "with wheels on".

Take note of a photo from the first recorded fight between the Taliban and the Resistance in Afghanistan. The man on the white stallion leading the Calvary charge was 71 year old (at that time) Billy Waugh.

He was retired from the US Army at that time,and working for the CIA.

BTW,he did NOT make that Halo jump into combat. He WAS the one that came up with  the idea,organized it,arranged for the team training,and set it up,but he  didn't jump because he was the senior NCO at SOG's FOB-1 at Phu Bi (Danang)at that time.

[mystery-ak]

Sailor killed at Pearl Harbor finally laid to rest near Kentucky home
Luke Gentile




After eight decades, the remains belonging to a sailor who was killed during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor were finally laid to rest with full military honors Saturday near his boyhood home.

Navy Seaman 1st Class Elmer P. Lawrence, 25, died Dec. 7, 1941, while aboard the USS Oklahoma, according to a news release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.



"The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Lawrence," the release read.

"From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries."

Remains belonging to Lawrence were identified in early 2021 through DNA testing, but a proper burial near his boyhood home of Park City, Kentucky, finally took place Saturday in Railton, according to a report.

Lawrence's cousin, Nashville singer-songwriter Sheila Lawrence, led the effort to bring her family home, the report noted.

Elmer Lawrence was the oldest child, and his death at Pearl Harbor broke his family.

"It broke everybody’s heart, even though none of us, hardly any of us alive now knew him, but we knew him because they kept his memory alive," Sheila Lawrence said. "They kept Elmer with all of us."

After his death, Lawrence was awarded the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, and bringing his remains home was a final honor.

"It was important to my dad," Sheila said. "My dad was three years younger than Elmer and he really thought he was the bee's knees."

Todd Mantioch, an advocate for POW/MIA service members, echoed Sheila's sentiment.

"For him to set foot on Kentucky’s soil after all that time, it literally gave us chills," Mantioch said.

"He's going to be home, laid to rest next to his mom and dad where he was supposed to be at the age of 25, 81 years ago." 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sailor-killed-at-pearl-harbor-laid-to-rest-kentucky


more
USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Lawrence, E.)

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2548155/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-lawrence-e/

[sneakypete]

Being a diver at Pearl Harbor in Dec of 1941 HAS to have been THE worse job in the world. I honestly don't understand how they were able to deal with  it,day after day for months.

I know I couldn't have done it,and I am not ashamed to admit it.

[rangerrebew]

Hundreds of motorcyclists will join funeral procession for Navy veteran set to be buried alone
boston
BY MIKE SULLIVAN

AUGUST 9, 2023 / 6:19 PM / CBS BOSTON


WEYMOUTH - Hundreds of motorcycle riders will see a local veteran off to his final resting place. He was set to be buried alone.

Anthony Meizis was a Lance Corporal in the Navy during the time of the Vietnam War. He is set to be buried at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. Meizis paid for funeral services at McDonald Keohane Funeral Home in Weymouth. Trouble came when the funeral home was struggling to find any family to attend. Meizis has a cousin in the area, but she is disabled, and unable to make it.
 
Navy veteran Anthony Meizis
CBS BOSTON
The funeral director, Cara Johnson, contacted a veteran group called No Veteran Buried Alone. They perform motorcycle processions for veterans in need of support, and have connections to the American Legion Riders. When the Department of Mass American Legion Riders put out an all call on Facebook, Johnson's phone began to ring over and over.

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/anthony-meizis-motorcyclists-funeral-procession-navy-veteran/

[rangerrebew]

Anthony Meizis was a Lance Corporal in the Navy

Huh?  There is no such thing.  He must have been a Marine.

[PeteS in CA]

It's CBS Skews.

[sneakypete]

Huh?  There is no such thing.  He must have been a Marine.

@rangerbrew  Same thing I was getting ready to post.

"They" just don't make reporters like  they  used to.

[andy58-in-nh]

@rangerbrew  Same thing I was getting ready to post.

"They" just don't make reporters like  they  used to.

That's because none of 'em ever served.

[rangerrebew]

Bob Barker, US Navy veteran, dead at 99
The longtime "The Price Is Right" host served during World War II.

BY NICHOLAS SLAYTON | PUBLISHED AUG 26, 2023 2:10 PM EDT
   
Bob Barker, the iconic host of “The Price Is Right” for nearly 50 years, died Saturday, Aug. 26 at the age of 99. Alongside his long career in television, Barker was a U.S. military veteran, serving in the U.S. Navy as an aviator during World War II.

Robert William Barker was born on Dec. 12, 1923. Before his service, Barker grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in North Dakota. His father was a quarter Sioux and Barker was listed as and considered himself part Sioux. After the United States entered World War II, Barker enlisted in 1943. He chose to join the U.S. Navy because, by his own admission, he saw a photo of a naval aviator in full dress whites and was impressed by the man’s appearance.


“I thought, ‘If I’m going to go to war, I want to go looking like that guy,’” Barker told CNN in a 2013 interview.

In that same interview, Barker said that he had never even been on a plane before enlisting, nor had he seen the ocean. But he joined the Navy. He earned his aviator wings, but the war ended before he was deployed and Barker did not see combat.

https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/bob-barker-navy-veteran/

[libertybele]

RIP Mr. Barker. 

The recipient of numerous honours, Barker won 14 Emmy Awards for his hosting work, and in 1999 he received a lifetime achievement award. He was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2004. His autobiography, Priceless Memories (cowritten with Digby Diehl), was published in 2009.

[rangerrebew]

Remains of Ohio sailor killed during Pearl Harbor identified
By The Associated Press
 Oct 2, 08:00 PM
 
Defense department authorities say the remains of an Ohio sailor killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, have been identified.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Monday that Navy Seaman 2nd Class Stanley C. Galaszewski, 29, of Steubenville, Ohio, was one of 104 crewmen on the battleship USS California killed during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack.

The ship, moored at Ford Island, was attacked by Japanese aircraft and sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it to catch fire and slowly flood. Remains of the deceased crew recovered in the ensuing months were interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu cemeteries.

The remains were later taken to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks, which was only able to confirm the identities of 39 men. Unidentified remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl in Honolulu.

https://www.navytimes.com/veterans/2023/10/03/remains-of-ohio-sailor-killed-during-pearl-harbor-identified/

[sneakypete]

Who would have ever dreamed such a thing was even possible when those sailors and soldiers were buried?

My next-door neighbor when I was a kid was married to one of my mother's cousins,and he was awarded a Silver Star as a Seaman E-3 for manning a 50 cal on one of the battle ships under attack by Zeros,and shooting several of them down.

E-3's getting Silver Stars is about as rare as hen's teeth.

The only reason I know about this is his oldest son was around the same age as me,and would invite me into their house to play. One day he invited me back into his parents bedroom,where the citation was framed and mounted on the wall. Up until then,I  didn't even know he was in WW-2.

[mountaineer]

Defense department authorities say the remains of an Ohio sailor killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, have been identified.

This one is close to home.

+Memory eternal.

[AL]

Fair winds and following sea, sailor.   

[rangerrebew]

'Flags In' at Arlington National Cemetery honors fallen service members for Memorial Day
Ahead of Memorial Day, over one thousand service members placed American flags at approximately two hundred and sixty thousand headstones to honor individuals laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2024/05/23/flags-in-ceremony-at-arlington-national-cemetery-ahead-of-memorial-day/73824380007/

[rangerrebew]

Honoring Our War Dead
The Evolution of the Government Policy on Headstones for Fallen Soldiers and Sailors
Spring 2003, Vol. 35, No. 1 | Genealogy Notes

By Mark C. Mollan
 

I do not believe that those who visit the graves of their relatives would have any satisfaction in finding them ticketed or numbered like London policemen or convicts.
   —Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs, Report to the Honorable John Coburn, Chairman, Senate Committee of Military Affairs, January 9, 1872.

 

But if he finds his . . . ancestor's name and position in full therein inscribed he will be satisfied that a grateful country had done due honor to the soldier whose sacrifice is one of the proud recollections of his family history.
   —General Meigs, Memorandum, Quartermaster General's Office, February 8, 1873

 

refer to captionEnlarge
This undated photograph shows headstones for Civil War and Spanish-American War veterans lined up to be transported to their final resting places.

View in National Archives Catalog

Montgomery C. Meigs keenly understood the mood of a nation nursing the tender scars of war. As quartermaster general of the Union army, Meigs had choreographed and directed the supply lines that fed, clothed, and armed the largest army in the world for the duration of the bloodiest conflict in American history. As a father, Meigs mourned the loss of his eldest son, Lt. John R. Meigs, who died while on a scouting mission near Kernstown, Virginia. Meigs never fully recovered from his loss, but he found some solace in solemnly laying his son to rest in the newly established national cemetery at Arlington, Virginia.

With similar tenderness and attention, Meigs directed a program that laid to rest hundreds of thousands of fallen soldiers scattered on former battlefields throughout the South and became the genesis of our national cemetery system. Quartermaster deputies under Meigs's command scoured the landscape of the South to locate, unearth, and identify the remains of soldiers that lay in the former battlefields and prison and hospital yards stretching from Maryland to Texas. By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 soldiers had been buried in seventy-three national cemeteries. Although temporary wooden headboards were first used to mark the graves of the deceased, Meigs, with his usual diligence, saw to it that by 1879 each fallen veteran, known and unknown, would be "done due honor" with a proper permanent marker at the head of his grave.

https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/spring/headstones.html