WWII soldier identified after 83 years
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. Herbert E. McLaughlin
By Brad Hanson
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (WAOW) — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. Herbert E. McLaughlin, 31, from Shawano, Wisconsin, was accounted for on Dec. 17, 2024. McLaughlin was killed during World War II.
McLaughlin was part of the Headquarters Squadron, 17th Air Group at Hickam Airfield in Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Japanese aircraft expanded their assault to Hickam Field, where McLaughlin was reportedly killed.
Following the attack, Navy personnel recovered remains of casualties, which were initially interred in Schofield Barracks Cemetery. By 1947, attempts to identify the remains were made, but McLaughlin and others remained unidentified.
In June 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed 12 unidentified remains from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific for analysis. Scientists used anthropological analysis and DNA testing to confirm McLaughlin’s identity.
McLaughlin will be honored with a rosette next to his name at the Punchbowl, indicating he has been accounted for. His burial will take place in Shawano, Wisconsin, on a date yet to be determined.
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