Sailor Missing from WWII is Identified
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The Department of
Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)
announced today that the remains of a U.S.
serviceman, missing from World War II, have been
identified and will be returned to his family for
burial with full military honors.
He is Seaman 1st Class
General P. Douglas, U.S. Navy, of Newcomb, Tenn. He
will be buried Jan. 26 in Sneedville, Tenn.
On July 6, 1943, the light cruiser
"USS Helena"was struck by torpedoes fired by
Japanese destroyers off the coast of Kolombangara
Island, Solomon Islands, in what would become known
as the Battle of the Kula Gulf. More than 700
servicemen were rescued, but Douglas was one of more
than 150 servicemen who were missing as the ship
sunk.
In June 2006, a resident of Ranongga
Island, Solomon Islands, notified U.S. officials
that he exhumed human remains and Douglas' dog tag
that he found eroding out of the ground near a trail
by his village. The officials contacted the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) who subsequently
traveled to Ranongga Island to examine the burial
location where they verified that no additional
remains were present.
Among dental records, other forensic
identification tools and circumstantial evidence,
scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA
Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial
DNA in the identification of the remains.
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