The stays of a US Military airman have been recognized 81 years after he died in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, officers introduced Friday.
Employees Sgt. Alvin R. Scarborough, of Dossville, Mississippi, was simply 22 years outdated when he served as a member of the 454th Ordnance Firm within the Philippine Islands following the Japanese invasion of December 1942 — sparking months of intense combating.
It’s unclear when he was captured by the enemy, however Scarborough was recorded as one in every of hundreds of American and Filipino service members imprisoned when the Allies give up the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942. The give up of the Corregidor Island adopted on Might 6, 1942.
That very day, Japan pressured Scarborough and 78,000 prisoners — 12,000 of which have been from the US — to make the 65-mile Bataan dying march alongside the mountainous coast towards the Cabanatuan POW camp, in keeping with the Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company (DPAA).
Solely 54,000 prisoners reached the camp, in keeping with Military archives.
Greater than 2,500 POWs perished at Cabanatuan POW camp through the warfare.
Based on jail camp and different historic information, Scarborough died July 28, 1942. He was buried with different prisoners within the native Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Widespread Grave 215.
Scarborough’s physique was exhumed by the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) in 1947, however he, like hundreds of others, remained unidentified for many years to come back — solely 5 units of stays in 215 have been recognized on the time.
He was buried on the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknown till 2018.
The unidentified stays of Widespread Grave 215 have been despatched to the DPAA laboratory, the place scientists used DNA evaluation and circumstantial proof to lastly determine the POWs.
After eight a long time, Scarborough’s physique was lastly accounted for on Sept. 21, 2023, the DPAA stated.
The hero’s physique shall be returned to his residence in Mississippi for a correct burial at a date but to be decided.
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