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## News Release

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# Missing WWII Soldier Identified (Owens)

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

Pvt. Donald D. Owens, 19, of Cleveland, will be buried onAugust 23 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.In late September 1944, his unit, the 773rd Tank Battalion, wasfighting its way east to France’s eastern border, clearing Germanforces out of the Parroy Forest near Lunéville. For its combatservice, the 773rd received the Presidential Unit Citation as thebattalion had destroyed 125 enemy tanks by war’s end. On Oct. 9,1944, in the final battle for control of the region, Owens and fourother soldiers were attacked by enemy fire in their M-10 TankDestroyer. Two men survived with serious injuries but three others,including Owens were reported to have been killed. Evidence at thetime indicated the remains of the men had been destroyed in the attack and were neither recoverednor buried near the location.

In November 1946, a French soldier working in the Parroy Forest found debris associatedwith an M-10 vehicle and human remains, which were turned over to the American GravesRegistration Command (AGRC). The remains were buried as unknowns in what is now known asthe Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. A year later the AGRC returned to the ParroyForest to conduct interviews and search for additional remains. Investigators noted at that timethat all remains of U.S. soldiers had reportedly been removed in the last two years and that thecrew was likely buried elsewhere as unknowns.

In 2003, a French citizen exploring the Parroy Forest discovered human remains and anidentification bracelet engraved with one of the soldier’s name, from a site he had probedoccasionally since 1998. The information was eventually sent to the Joint POW/MIA AccountingCommand (JPAC). In April 2006, the man turned over the items to a JPAC team working inEurope. A few months later a second JPAC team returned to the site and recovered more humanremains, personal effects and an identification tag for Owens.

Historians at DPMO and JPAC continued their research on the burials at the ArdennesCemetery, and drew a correlation to those unknowns removed from the 1944 battle site. In early2008, JPAC disinterred these remains and began their forensic review.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists fromJPAC used dental comparisons for the men and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratoryused mitochondrial DNA, which matched that of each soldier’s relatives in the identification oftheir remains.

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

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

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