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

# Soldier Missing From WWII Identified (Yawney)

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

Army Pvt. William Yawney, 23, of Freemansburg, Pa., will be buried on May 25, in Bethlehem,Pa. On June 15, 1944, as part of an Allied strategic goal to secure the Mariana Islands, U.S. forceswere ordered to occupy Saipan. After a month of intense fighting, enemy forces conducted a finalattack on the 105th Infantry Regiment (IR), 27th Infantry Division’s (ID) position. During these attacks,elements of the 105th IR sustained heavy losses, killing and injuring more than 900 servicemen. As aresult of these attacks Yawney was reported killed in action.

After the battle, Yawney’s family received a letter from his commanding officer stating that hehad been buried in a military cemetery on Saipan; however, after the war U.S. Army GravesRegistration Services exhumed and relocated all of the cemetery graves on Saipan, but found no gravefor Yawney. In December 1948, a military review board investigated Yawney’s loss and concluded hisremains were non-recoverable.

On Sept. 3, 2011, a private archaeological company excavated land near Achugao Village,Saipan, and uncovered human remains. The remains were taken into custody by the Division of HistoricPreservation, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Department of Community and CulturalAffairs and handed over to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC).

To identify the remains, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA IdentificationLaboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools such as dentalcomparisons and mitochondrial DNA, which matched Yawney’s brother.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died. Today, morethan 73,000 are unaccounted-for from the conflict.

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.

**                    SHARE                

**                    PRINT