MIA Update, July 3, 2019

[boardman]

MIA Update: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has announced the identifications of two American servicemen who had been missing and unaccounted for from WWII and the Korean War. Returning home for burial with full military honors are:

-- Army Pfc. David C. Wilkes was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Approximately 2,500 U.S. and 700 South Korean soldiers assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was attacked by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. Wilkes was initially reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, when he could not be accounted for after th e withdrawal, but his status was later amended to killed in action. Interment services are pending. Read about Wilkes https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/1892227/soldier-accounted-for-from-korean-war-wilkes-d/.
-- Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Kenneth W. Likens was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. In Nov. 1943, approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed, and more than 2,000 were wounded during the fighting. Likens died on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22, 1943. He was reported to have been buried in the East Division Cemetery, which was eventually renamed to Cemetery #33. Interment services are pending. Read about Likens https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/1892222/marine-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-likens-k/.