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Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyFulfilling Our Nation's Promise

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## News Release

# Navy Airmen Missing In Action From WW II Are Identified (Davis, Keller, Alford, Hall, Hathaway, Smith, Gyorfi) 

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

The are Ensign Leland L. Davis, Jackson, Miss.; Ensign Robert F. Keller, Wichita, Kan.;Seaman 2nd Class Elwin Alford, Bogalusa, La.; Seaman 2nd Class Dee Hall, Syria, Okla.; AviationMachinist Mate John H. Hathaway, Lafayette, Ind.; Aviation Radioman 2nd Class Robert A. Smith,Glen Dive, Mont.; and Aviation Pilot 3rd Class Albert J. Gyorfi, Wilbur, Wash.; all U.S. Navy.

The group remains of all seven are to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery nearWashington, D.C., on Wednesday, as are the individually-identified remains of Davis, Alford andHathaway. Hall has already been buried in Oklahoma, and individual burials for the others are beingset by the families.

The seven man crew was aboard a U.S. Navy PBY-5 Catalina which took off from KodiakIsland, Alaska, on June 14, 1942, to attack Japanese targets in Kiska Harbor.

They encountered inclement weather near the target, as well as heavy Japanese anti-aircraftfire. Their plane crashed on the Japanese-held island of Kiska with all seven aboard.

In August 1943, the U.S. retook Kiska Island from the Japanese. Wreckage of the PBY-5 wasfound on the side of Kiska Volcano. The remains of the crew were buried in a common grave marked“Seven U.S.N. Airmen” with a wooden marker. Following the war, attempts to locate the commongrave were unsuccessful and the remains of all seven were declared to be non-recoverable.

In 2002, a wildlife biologist notified DPMO that he had found the wreckage of a WWII aircrafton the slope of Kiska Volcano. Using that information, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command(JPAC) excavated the crash site in August 2003 where they found debris from the PBY-5 as well ascrew-related items. The JPAC team also located the wooden marker as well as the remains buriednearby. Subsequent JPAC laboratory analysis led to the individual identifications of all sevencrewmembers.

Approximately 78,000 servicemembers are unaccounted-for from World War II War. 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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