MIA Update - March 20, 2020

[boardman]

MIA Update: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced one new identification, and three burial update for service members who have been missing and unaccounted-for from WWII and the Korean War. Returning home for burial with full military honors are:

-- Navy Seaman 1st Class Orval A. Tranbarger, 20, of Mountain View, Missouri, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Tranbarger. He will be buried in his hometown. The date has yet to be decided. Read about Tranbarge https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2032609/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-tranbarger-o/r.
-- Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. George M. Johnson, 23, of Seaford, Delaware, was a member of the 38th Bombardment Squadron, 30th Bombardment Group, stationed at Hawkins Field, Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, when the B-24J bomber he was co-piloting crashed into Tarawa lagoon shortly after takeoff. Johnson and the nine other servicemen aboard the aircraft were killed. Johnson will be buried May 8, 2020, in his hometown. Read about Johnson https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2041019/pilot-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-johnson-g/.
-- Navy Fireman 3rd Class Herbert B. Jacobson, 21, of Grayslake, Illinois, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Jacobson. Jacobson will be buried May 15, 2020, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Read about Jacobson https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2009728/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-jacobson-h/.
-- Marine Corps Sgt. Jerome B. Morris, 22, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Morris was killed on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22, 1943. Morris will be buried in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. The date has yet to be determined. Read about Morris.