DPAA Identifies Multiple WWII Soldiers' Remains for Burial Across US

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has recently identified the remains of multiple U.S. soldiers from World War II, providing closure to families after many decades. Pvt. Kenneth L. Kramer from Detroit, who endured the Bataan Death March and died in a POW camp in the Philippines, was identified 73 years later and will be reburied in Michigan. Similarly, Pvt. Mack Kidd, a member of Merrill’s Marauders killed in Burma, was identified 80 years after his death and will be laid to rest in Alabama with full military honors. Pvt. Erwin Schopp, captured during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and deceased in a POW camp, was also identified in 2025 and is being returned to Nebraska for burial. These identifications highlight advances in forensic science, including DNA analysis, and demonstrate a continued commitment by the U.S. government and communities to honor and repatriate fallen service members. Ongoing efforts such as the Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project also work to identify unknown soldiers from earlier conflicts, exemplified by the recent exhumation of a World War I veteran in Wisconsin.