MIA Update - May 20, 2024

[boardman]

MIA Update: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced four burial updates for service members who have been missing and unaccounted for from World War II and the Korean War. Returning home for burial with full military honors are:

-- Army Pvt. 1st Class Marcus A. Engesser, 21, of Vallejo, California, was a member of Company L, 31st Infantry Regiment. He was among those captured in the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and he died while a prisoner of war on Sept. 23 that same year. He will be buried in his hometown on a date to be determined. Read about Engesser https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Press-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3774509/soldier-accounted-for-from-wwii-engesser-m/.
-- Army Private Cecil T. Hinson, 20, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, was a member of the Chemical Warfare Service. He was among those captured in the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and he died while a prisoner of war on July 28 that same year. He will be buried in his hometown on a date to be determined. Read about Hinson https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Press-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3774355/soldier-accounted-for-from-wwii-hinson-c/.
-- Army 1st Lieutenant Nathan B. Baskind, 28, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was assigned to Company C, 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He went missing in action in June 1944 and died while a prisoner of war later that same month. Interment services are pending. Read about Baskind https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Press-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3771723/tanker-accounted-for-from-wwii-baskind-n/.
-- Army Pfc. Thomas A. Smith, 17, of Grant, Michigan, was a member of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Aug. 2, 1950, and the Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953. He will be buried in his hometown on a date to be determined. Read about Smith https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Press-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3774700/soldier-accounted-for-from-korean-war-smith-t/.