actioncorpsweekly

MIA Update:
This week, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced 36 new identifications, including 20 from the USS Oklahoma. Returning home with full military honors are:
-- Air Force Col. Richard A. Kibbey, was a member of Detachment 5, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. On Feb. 6, 1967, he, along with three others, were aboard a HH-3E helicopter on a rescue and recovery mission over North Vietnam. After rescuing the pilot of a downed aircraft, Kibbey’s helicopter was hit by enemy ground fire resulting in an internal explosion and crash. Kibbey was subsequently reported missing in action. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Sgt. 1st Class James L. Boyce was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, engaged in combat operations against the North Korean People’s Army south of Chonui, South Korea. Boyce could not be accounted for and was declared missing in action on July 11, 1950. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Cpl. Frederick E. Coons was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. On July 29, 1950, Coons was declared missing action in the vicinity of Geochang, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, when he couldn’t be accounted for after a unit withdrawal action to set up a roadblock against North Korean Forces. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Pfc. William H. Jones was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, engaged in attacks against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces near Pakchon, North Korea. On Nov. 26, 1950, after his unit made a fighting withdrawal, he could not be accounted for and was reported missing in action. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Pfc. George L. Spangenberg was a member of Company E, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 2, 1950, following a battle in Unsan, North Korea. Spangenberg’s name was never included on lists of American soldiers being held as prisoners of war by the Korean People’s Army or the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces and no returned American prisoners of war had any information on his status. Based on a lack of information regarding his status, he was declared deceased on Dec. 21, 1953. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Pfc. James P. Shaw was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, when enemy forces invaded the regiment’s positions and forced them to withdraw in North Korea. During the withdrawal, U.S. forces were under constant heavy enemy pressure and were hampered by icy roads and heavy equipment. Shaw was reported missing following an engagement which lasted through the night on Dec. 3, 1950. On June 23, 1951, he was declared deceased. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Air Forces Sgt. Vernon L. Hamilton a member of the 642nd Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Division, 9th Air Force. On March 23, 1945, he was aboard an A-26B, when the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went missing during a combat mission from Couvron, France to Dülmen, Germany. Hamilton, his pilot, 2nd Lt. Lynn W. Hadfield, and the other crewman, Sgt. John Kalausich, had been participating in the interdiction campaign to obstruct German troop movements in preparation for the Allied crossing of the Rhine River. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Lynn W. Hadfield a member of the 642nd Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Division, 9th Air Force. On March 23, 1945, he was aboard an A-26B, when the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went missing during a combat mission from Couvron, France to Dülmen, Germany. Hadfield, and his two crewmen, Sgt. Vernon Hamilton and Sgt. John Kalausich, had been participating in the interdiction campaign to obstruct German troop movements in preparation for the Allied crossing of the Rhine River. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Hulen A. Leinweber was a member of 40th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group. On June 10, 1945, the P-51 aircraft he was piloting was reportedly struck by anti-aircraft fire, causing the right wing to break off. Leinweber’s aircraft crashed just south of Ilap village, in Infugao Province, Republic of the Philippines. The American Graves Registration Service searched the area south of Ilap village, locating wreckage but recovering no remains. In October 1947, Leinweber’s remains were declared non-recoverable. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. James R. Lord a member of the 66th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group, 12th Tactical Air Command, 12th Air Force. On Aug. 10, 1944, the P-47D aircraft he was piloting crashed due to a navigational error a mile off the coast of Anghione, Corsica. No witnesses reported seeing any parachute sightings. Interment services are pending.
-- Army Pvt. William A. Boegli was a member of Company L, 332nd Infantry Regiment, 81st Infantry Division, invading Angaur Island in the Palau Island chain. After Boegli’s regiment successfully captured Red Beach on the northeastern shore, they pushed westward across the island. On Sept. 30, 1944, Boegli was killed while attempting to lead a group of litter bearers to evacuate wounded servicemen. His remains were not recovered following the war. Interment services are pending.
-- Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Nicholas J. Gojmerac was a member of Company Q, 4th Raider Battalion, 1st Marine Raider Regiment, when his unit assaulted a Japanese stronghold at Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia Island, Solomon Islands. He was reported missing in action on July 20, 1943, after he was last seen crawling through heavy fire to provide medical care to an injured Marine while he was mortally wounded himself. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Reserve Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class William H. Blancheri was a member of Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded. Blancheri died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. Interment services are pending.
-- Marine Corps Pfc. Michael L. Salerno was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded. Salerno died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. Interment services are pending.
-- Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Fred E. Freet was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded. Freet died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. Interment services are pending.
-- USS Oklahoma: The following personnel were stationed aboard the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941. The battleship sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including:
-- Navy Seaman 2nd Class Wilbur C. Barrett. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Storekeeper 2nd Class Gerald L. Clayton. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Storekeeper 1st Class John W. Craig. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Fireman 3rd Class Warren H. Crim. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Musician 2nd Class Francis E. Dick. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Seaman 2nd Class George T. George. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Seaman 2nd Class Charles C. Gomez. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Fireman 1st Class Claude O. Gowey. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Seaman 1st Class Daniel L. Guisinger. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Seaman 1st Class Robert W. Headington. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Seaman 2nd Class Challis R. James. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Seaman 1st Class Wesley V. Jordan Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Radioman 3rd Class Howard V. Keffer. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Seaman 2nd Class Joe M. Kelley. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Fireman 1st Class Elmer D. Nail. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Fireman 1st Class Frank E. Nicoles. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Storekeeper 3rd Class Eli Olsen. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Fireman 1st Class Millard C. Pace. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Merle A. Smith. Interment services are pending.
-- Navy Reserve Fireman 1st Class Lewis F. Tindall. Interment services are pending.