The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Thursday that Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. Jack S. Brown, 22, of Virginia Beach, killed during World War II, was accounted for on May 11, 2022.
His family only recently received their full briefing on his identification, which is why the announcement of his identification was delayed.
In July 1944, Brown was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which was part of the invasion force of the island of Saipan in a larger effort to capture the Mariana Islands from Japan. Brown was reported killed in action on July 8, but his body was not able to be recovered. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Service was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater. They searched for and disinterred remains on Saipan, but could not identify any as Brown. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1950.
Remains designated as Unknown X-30 2nd Marine Division Cemetery Saipan were recovered from Saipan and interred in the Fort William McKinley Cemetery, now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines.
After thorough historical research, it was determined that X-30 could likely be identified. Unknown X-30 was disinterred in March 2021 and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Brown’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Brown’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Brown will be buried Aug. 13, 2022, in Norfolk.
