An official website of the United States government         Here's how you know         
**Official websites use .mil**
A **.mil** website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
**Secure .mil websites use HTTPS**
 A **lock (lock )** or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to main content (Press Enter).

Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyFulfilling Our Nation's Promise

Search
Search

Search

              - 
              - 
              - 

-  Home		 
-  Families		 
-  Our Missing    -  Searchable List of the Missing             
  -  Searchable Map of the Missing             
  -  Recently Accounted For             
  -  World War II      -  World War II Summary             
    -  Battle of Tarawa             
    -  Attack on Pearl Harbor 
  -  Korean War      -  Korean War Summary             
    -  Battle of Chosin Reservoir             
    -  Battle of Unsan             
    -  Korean Air Battles             
    -  The Inchon Campaign             
    -  The Pusan Perimeter             
    -  The DMZ Campaigns             
    -  Korean War Disinterments             
    -  Operation Glory             
    -  POW Camps 
  -  Vietnam War      -  Vietnam War Summary             
    -  Vietnam War Identification Project             
    -  Tet Offensive             
    -  Battle of Khe Sanh             
    -  Mayaguez Incident             
    -  Battle of Ia Drang             
    -  Lam Son 
  -  Cold War             
  -  Gulf Wars & Libya             
  -  Unknowns 
-  News & Stories    -  Our Stories             
  -  Press Releases             
  -  DPAA In The News             
  -  Year In Review 
-  Multimedia    -  Livestreams             
  -  Podcast             
  -  Briefing Videos             
  -  Science Videos             
  -  DPAA Laboratory             
  -  Media Gallery 
-  Resources    -  FAQs             
  -  AFMES DNA Laboratory             
  -  Publicly Released Documents             
  -  Family/VSO Update Notes             
  -  Family Member Guide             
  -  POW/MIA Day Toolkit             
  -  USRJC 
-  About    -  Leadership             
  -  Vision-Mission-Values             
  -  DPAA Organizational Chart 
-  Contact    -  Contact Us             
  -  Join Us      -  Careers 
  -  Report a Site             
  -  Donate to the Mission 
-  Volunteer		 

## News Release

# Marine Missing From WWII Accounted For (McConachie)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, lost during World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Marine Pvt. Robert J. McConachie, 18, of Detroit, will be buried Nov. 3, in Augusta, Mich., In June 1945, McConachie was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and was deployed to Okinawa, Japan. As his unit took part in the battle with enemy forces on Kunishi Ridge, it sustained heavy losses. McConachie was reported killed in action June 14, 1945.

On Nov. 23, 1987, the Army’s Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI) received remains from the U.S. Air Force Mortuary at Camp Kinser in Okinawa, Japan. The remains were recovered from Kunishi Ridge where McConachie was lost, and were believed to be those of an American service member from World War II. Efforts to identify the remains proved unsuccessful at that time.

Due to technological advances in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing, the case was re-examined in 2010 by Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Affairs analysts to identify possible individuals who were unaccounted for from this battle and to facilitate family reference sample collection.

In the identification of McConachie, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used forensic identification tools including dental comparisons which matched his records and mtDNA which matched his brother.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for Americans, who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

**                    SHARE                

**                    PRINT