SAILOR MISSING FROM WWII IS IDENTIFIED

Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office ^ | Dec. 1, 2008 | Staff

[Stonewall Jackson]

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

He is Ensign Robert G. Tills, U.S. Navy, of Manitowoc, Wis. He will be buried on March 23, 2009 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

Representatives from the Navy’s Mortuary Office met with Tills’ next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy.

On Dec. 8, 1941, two PBY-4 Catalina Flying Boats moored in Malalag Bay, in eastern Mindanao, Philippine Commonwealth, were strafed and sunk by Japanese aircraft. All of the crew on board the PBYs escaped the aircraft with the exception of Tills, who was seen by another crewman to have been hit and killed by machine gun bullets. Tills was the first Navy officer to be lost in defense of the Philippine Islands. His body was not recovered.

In October 2007, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) was notified by U.S. authorities in the Philippines that aircraft wreckage had been discovered in Malalag Bay. A fragment of the wreckage bore the markings “PBY-4.”

In November 2007, a JPAC team, along with the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group-Philippines and the Philippines Coast Guard (PCG), surveyed the site and recovered human remains and non-biological evidence. Later that month, the PCG recovered additional remains from the site.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of Tills’ remains.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Welcome home, Ensign Tills, you have been gone far too long.

[SueRae]

God Bless you and your family, Ensign Tills.

[Stonewall Jackson]

If you want on or off my POW/MIA ping list, please ping or FReep Mail me.

[SouthTexas]

Welcome home.

Prayers for the family.

[NonValueAdded]

Welcome home, sailor.

[Dubya]

Soldier rest, Gently pressed,
To the calm, Mother Earth's
Waiting breast;
Duty done, Like the sun:
Going West.

GOD BLESS YOU

[beachn4fun]

Welcome Home, Ensign Tills.
R I P

[pabianice]

Welcome home, Shipmate.

[ConorMacNessa]

Welcome home and rest well, Brother!

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Thanks so much for the add.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

God bless him and his family. They are in my prayers.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[tubebender]

Welcome Home Sailor and God Bless You for giving the ultimate sacrifice for your country...

[CrazyIvan]

One of the primary purposes of the PBY was search and rescue of downed pilots and crew. Their crews were noted for risking all to make those recoveries. It seems appropriate that he has been found and returned at last. I’m sure he wouldn’t have given up.

[oldsalt]

Welcome home,Shipmate,you can rest easier now.

May God bless you and your family.

[llevrok]

Welcome home, Ensign

Your country has missed you. Rest in peace.

[SunkenCiv]

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[unkus]

Thank you Dubya.

[unkus]

Thank you Stonewall Jackson.

[Aquakat]

Thanks,

PGR is on it, however not mission yet.

Welcome Home you are not forgotten