Fri, Sep 28, 2007
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)
has announced that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in
action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned
to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is 1st Lt. James W. Blose, U.S. Army Air Forces, of
Sharpsville, Pa. He will be buried Sept. 29 in Hermitage, Pa.
Representatives from the Army met with Blose's next-of-kin in her
hometown to explain the recovery and identification process and to
coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the
Secretary of the Army.
On April 22, 1942, Blose and another pilot, 2nd Lt. William S.
Shaw, departed Nausori, Airdrome, Viti Levu Island, Fiji, on an
airborne alert mission. Soon after takeoff, bad weather forced the
pilots to fly below the level of several mountaintops in the area
and land their P-39D Airacobras at Nandi Airdrome. Shaw
successfully landed his plane, but Blose was not seen or heard from
again. Initial ground searches in the thick jungles and rugged
terrain were unsuccessful.
In late 2004, a Fiji citizen reported to a U.S. official in Fiji
that he located possible aircraft wreckage on Viti Levu Island. The
official visited the site and saw the wreckage bearing a data plate
that correlated to Blose's plane. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting
Command (JPAC) investigated the crash site in early 2005 and
collected additional data plate information.
In 2006, a JPAC team excavated the site and recovered human
remains and other items including a pilot's microphone electrical
plug with Blose's initials on it. Among other forensic
identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from
JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of Blose's
remains.
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