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Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyFulfilling Our Nation's Promise

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## News Release

# Ten Missing WWII Airmen Are Identified (Cooley, Ives, Archer, Grady, Sargent, Zayac, King, Knight, Nell, Smith) 

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced todaythat the remains of ten U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have beenidentified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

They are 2nd Lt. Raymond A. Cooley, of Leary, Texas; 2nd Lt. Dudley R. Ives, ofIngleside, Texas; 2nd Lt. George E. Archer, of Cushing, Okla.; 2nd Lt. Donald F. Grady, ofHarrisburg, Pa.; Tech. Sgt. Richard R. Sargent, of North Girard, Pa.; Tech. Sgt. Steve Zayac, ofCleveland, Ohio; Staff Sgt. Joseph M. King, of Detroit, Mich.; Staff Sgt. Thomas G. Knight, ofBrookfield, Ill.; Staff Sgt. Norman L. Nell, of Tarkio, Mo.; and Staff Sgt. Blair W. Smith, of NuMine, Pa.; all U.S. Army Air Forces. The dates and locations of the funerals are being set by theirfamilies.

Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men in their hometownsto explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with militaryhonors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

On April 16, 1944, a B-24 Liberator crewed by these airmen was returning to theaerodrome at Nadzab, New Guinea, after bombing enemy targets near Hollandia. The aircraftwas altering course due to bad weather and was proceeding to the aerodrome at Saidor, but itnever returned to friendly lines.

In late 2001, the U.S. Embassy in Papua New Guinea notified the Joint POW/MIAAccounting Command (JPAC) that wreckage of a World War II bomber had been found inMorobe Province. Early the next year, a JPAC team surveyed the site and found aircraftwreckage and remains. They also collected more remains and Grady’s identification tag fromlocal villagers who had found the items at the crash site.

Later in 2002, a JPAC team began excavating the crash site and recovered remains andcrew-related items, included identification tags for Knight and Smith. The team was unable tocomplete the recovery, and another JPAC team re-visited the site two weeks later to complete theexcavation. The team found additional remains and identification tags for Sargent and King.

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.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missingAmericans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

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