World War II

Disinterment Operations in 

the Pacific

DPAA Indo-Pacific Directorate

Dr. Aelwen Wetherby
An Introduction

Historical 

Research

Field 

Investigations

Disinterment 

Operations

What is an X-File?

• The file of documentation for 

each Unknown

• Ideally, a record of the 

recovery of the remains and 

what the AGRS did to try to 

identify them

An Unknown can consist of as 

little as a single bone 

fragment from one person, or 

many hundreds of bones from 

multiple individuals 

What is an Unknown?

• A believed-to-be U.S. Service 

member recovered during or 

after past conflicts 

determined to be 

“unidentifiable”

• A group/set of remains that, 

for a variety of reasons, was 

unidentifiable at the time of 

recovery
Historical Background

An Introduction to the American Graves Registration Service
Recovery Interment Disinterment 

& Analysis

CIL/CIP

Analysis

AGRS

Recommendation

World War II Unknowns went through a multi-stage process of review and 

analysis in an attempt to identify as many remains as possible.

World War II Identification 

Efforts
Time and Identification

The Battle of Saipan

156

230

194

152

102

59

35

15 19 11 8 3 9 4 8 6 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 3 4 2 1 3 2 1 1

0

50

100

150

200

250

0 days

1 day

2 days3 days4 days5 days6 days7 days8 days9 days

10 days11 days12 days13 days14 days15 days16 days17 days18 days19 days20 days21 days22 days25 days26 days28 days29 days30 days31 days32 days33 days

Interval between time of death

and identification

Casualties

The sooner remains 

were recovered, the 

easier it was to make 

an identification
Eventually, all remains recovered across Asia and the Pacific and deemed unidentifiable 

both by scientific analysis and a Memorial Division Board of Review, 

were buried in one of two U.S. cemeteries as World War II Unknowns.

The Return of World War II 

Dead Program
• The first Unknown buried in (or recovered from) a cemetery 

starts with X-1

• In Cabanatuan, these initial designations were usually written 

as C-1

• Unknowns are initially tracked this way

• Example: C-708 Cabanatuan

• Some numbers were changed when remains were transferred 

to a different cemetery

• Example: C-708 Cabanatuan became X-1790 Manila #2 

• Most unknown files have documentation explaining the 

original designation and the new designation and numbering

C-708 

Cabanatuan

X-3051 

Manila Mausoleum

X-1790 

Manila #2

All the same unknown!

Naming the Unknowns
The CIP and the CIL

Central Identification 

Laboratory (CIL)

Honolulu, Hawaii

Central Identification 

Point (CIP) 

Manila, Philippines

8 of 37
Initial Recovery

Laboratory

• Witness statements

• Confirmation of identity by someone who knew 

the person

• Identifying media

• Dog tags, wallets, other identifying 

documentation

• Association with a known incident

• Recovery from the wreckage a clearly identified 

aircraft (often a group identification)

• Discovery of hidden identifying media

• Found through laboratory methods

• Skeletal and dental analysis

• With dentition being particularly important in 

individual identifications

Across the Asian and 

Pacific Theaters of 

World War II, AGRS 

laboratories reported 

that over 94% of 

recovered Unknowns 

were successfully 

identified in the 

1940s.

How were Unknowns 

identified?
Why weren’t Unknowns 

identified?

• There are a number of reasons why remains were not identified at 

the CIP or CIL, these include:

• The circumstances, location, and timing of loss (or lack of available 

information on such details)

• Challenges with the recovery of the remains, either in terms of who 

recovered the remains or the condition in which they were found

• Contradictory “identifying” media, e.g. material evidence found with the 

remains belonging to a resolved casualty or a survivor of the war 

• Issues with incomplete, or inaccurate historical and/or personnel records

• Limitations of scientific methods at the time
Historic Name Associations

Many x-files make reference to a specific casualty or 

name the AGRS was investigating as a possible 

association for the unknown. 

Sometimes name associations may provide a valuable 

investigative lead to researchers today, but often there 

was a good reason that such associations didn’t lead to 

an identification in the 1940s.
Unknowns Today

Recoveries from the Asian and Pacific Theaters of 

World War II
World War II Unknowns

Post-War Totals

63%

37%

OVER 8,600 UNKNOWNS 

FROM 

WORLD WAR II

Indo-Pacific Europe-Mediterranean

Indo-Pacific

• 5,752 WWII Unknowns

• 2 cemeteries (ABMC & VA)

Manila Honolulu

Manila American Cemetery 

& Memorial

American Battle Monuments 

Commission cemetery

~3,700 WWII Unknowns

National Memorial Cemetery 

of the Pacific

Veterans Administration cemetery

~2,000 WWII Unknowns
WWII Unknowns in the 

NMCP

• Hawaii (Pearl Harbor, 

West Loch)

• China

• Burma

• India

• Formosa

• Indonesia (Java, Borneo)

• Gilbert Islands (Tarawa, 

Makin Island)

• Solomon Islands 

(Guadalcanal)

• Vanuatu

• Marshall Islands 

(Kwajelein)

• Australia

• New Caledonia

• Papua New Guinea

• French Indo-China 

• About 2,052 WWII Unknowns in Honolulu, Hawaii

• WWII Unknowns at the NMCP came from all over 

the Pacific, including:

To date, about 608 WWII Unknowns have been disinterred from the NMCP.

• Hawaii (Pearl Harbor, 

West Loch)

• China

• Burma

• India

• Formosa

• Indonesia (Java, Borneo)

• Gilbert Islands (Tarawa, 

Makin Island)

• Solomon Islands 

(Guadalcanal)

• Vanuatu

• Marshall Islands 

(Kwajelein)

• Australia

• New Caledonia

• Papua New Guinea

• French Indo-China 
WWII Unknowns in the 

MACM

• About 3,700 WWII Unknowns in Manila, Philippines

• 3,000 of these were recovered from the Philippines

• Of these, approximately 1,000 are believed to be 

American POWs from Camp O’Donnell and 

Cabanatuan POW Camp

• The remaining 700 Unknowns were recovered from:

• Palau

• Solomon Islands

• Celebes, New Britain, and Wewak

• Guam

• Okinawa

• Iwo Jima

• Japan

• Saipan

• Papua New Guinea

To date, about 326 WWII Unknowns have been disinterred from the MACM.

• About 3,700 WWII Unknowns in Manila, Philippines

• 3,000 of these were recovered from the Philippines

• Of these, approximately 1,000 are believed to be 

American POWs from Camp O’Donnell and 

Cabanatuan POW Camp

• The remaining 700 Unknowns were recovered from:

• Palau

• Solomon Islands

• Celebes, New Britain, and Wewak

• Guam

• Okinawa

• Iwo Jima

• Japan

• Saipan

• Papua New Guinea
• Review and make 

recommendations to disinter all 

World War II Unknowns that have 

the potential to be disinterred 

based on DoD requirements

• Must meet DoD disinterment 

thresholds

• Must work with the capacity of 

the services (responsible for 

collecting FRS), AFMES, and the 

cemeteries

• Numerous full-time researchers 

dedicated to disinterment 

operations, organized 

geographically

DPAA Strategy
• DPAA researchers generate disinterment recommendations for cases 

assessed to meet DoD thresholds 

• For World War II Unknowns, agency researchers prioritize family 

disinterment requests over those that are internally generated 

• Disinterment requirements: 

• More than 50% for single unknowns

• More than 60% for groups of unknowns or commingled remains

Table 5. Final list of unresolved U.S. casualties associated with X-number and summary of analytical options.

Rank Name Historical Biological Dental Chest 

radiograph* 

FRS on file

1 Name Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Disinterment 

Recommendation
Disinterment Operations

1999-2021

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

1999 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Korea WWII Indo-Pacific WWII Europe-Mediterranean

Disinterment of 

USS Oklahoma 

Unknowns
Identifications

• The identification of disinterred unknowns is an ongoing process

• The disinterment of WWII Unknowns recovered from the Indo-Pacific 

regions have led to more than 400 identifications to date

• Updates to DPAA identifications are regularly published to:

• www.dpaa.mil

• www.facebook.com/dodpaa

RM3c Thomas 

Griffith

CMMP Lada 

Smisek

F3c William L. 

Barnett

Pvt Jacob Cruz Pvt Howard E. 

Miller

S/Sgt Lewis S. 

Doddo

S1c Carl S. 

Johnson