MIA Update - March 15, 2021

[boardman]

MIA Update: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced three new identifications for service members who have been missing and unaccounted-for from World War II and Korea. Returning home for burial with full military honors are:

-- Navy Seaman 2nd Class Michael Malek, 17, 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 Malek. Interment Services are pending. Read about Malek https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2531785/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-malek-m/.

-- Navy Signalman 3rd Class Austin H. Hesler, 21, 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 Hesler. Interment Services are pending. Read about Hesler https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2531765/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-hesler-a/.

-- Army Chaplain (Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun, of Pilsen, Kansas, returned to active duty in the U.S. Army after serving during World War II and served in the Korean War with the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On Nov. 2, 1950, his unit was near Unsan when they came under heavy fire from Chinese forces and received orders to withdraw. Approximately a quarter of the unit’s soldiers made their way back to friendly lines. The others, including many wounded soldiers, became trapped. Kapaun volunteered to stay with the wounded and was soon captured and taken to a Chinese-run prison camp on the Yalu River's south bank known as Camp 5. Due to prolonged malnutrition, he died on May 23, 1951, after which the other POWs buried him in one of the camp's cemeteries. At a White House ceremony on April 11, 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Kapaun the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism and selflessness. Interment Services are pending. Read about Kapaun https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2531765/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-hesler-a/.