Posted on 12/21/2008 4:54:10 PM PST by SandRat
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 will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Maj. Marion R. McCown Jr., U.S. Marine Corps, of Charleston, S.C. He will be buried on Jan. 18 in Charleston.
Representatives from the Marine Corps Mortuary Office met with McCown’s 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 Jan. 20, 1944 McCown was the pilot of an F-4U Corsair aircraft that failed to return from a combat mission over Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
In 1991, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) team excavated an F-4U crash site in Rabaul and recovered human remains and McCown’s identification tag. However, forensic science at that time precluded an identification.
In 2006, a JPAC team surveyed the crash site in preparation for a recovery. While at the site, a villager living in the area turned over to the team human remains that he claimed to have recovered from the site. In 2008, another JPAC team excavated the site and recovered additional human remains.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC used dental comparisons in the identification of McCown’s remains.
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) 699-1420.
Welcome home and thank you.
Welcome home Maj. Marion R. McCown Jr., U.S. Marine Corps. Job well done, rest well.
I have a great uncle who was lost in that same area. He was a gunner on a plane that went down. I hope his remains can be found and identified someday.
I’ve seen people ask why the US continues to do this long after the war. Your post answers that question. I sincerely hope you get your wish someday.
I had an uncle who served on those islands in the Army. It was rough. Our family has a candlestick he made there from bullet shells.
The Major flew F4Us .. "Whistling Death".
A hero has come home to RIP.
Thank you, and welcome home from the bottom of my heart. Rest in peace, beloved one.
Rest In Peace, brave warrior, and prayers for your loved ones. Welcome home.
Thank you. Before his parents died they had a headstone put up next to their (then future) graves. Their wish was to have their son buried next to them. They waited 40+ years for him to come home.
Here’s health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we’ve fought for life
And have never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.
We don’t forget our fallen in arms like so many dumbed down libs in todays world.
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