Bataan Death March, Pow Camp demanded Williamston Man. His remains finally rest in the US floor

Williamston TWP. -Family members and others gathered on Saturday, May 3, to prevent the remains of a webberville man who survived the notorious Bataan death in World War II to die in a Japanese prisoner of war months later.

Us Army Air Corps Sgt. James Swartz 'remains were identified 80 years after the war in August 2024 and returned to Michigan for the funeral in Williamston Township.

The Defense Pow/Mia Accounting Agency announced the identification of Swartz in November 2024.

According to Lori Byrnes, Swartz was rested on the Summit Cemetery with around 40 people who represented five generations of his family.

The service includes an honorary guard.

How Swartz was buried in the Philippines

Swartz was a member of the 17th squadron, 24th persecution group, entered the Filipino islands as a Japanese armed forces during the Second World War.

The unit, which was activated on October 1, 1941 in the Philippines, with two attached seasons with P-35 and P-40 aircraft. At the end of December, the soil staff were absorbed by infantry units and some pilots were evacuated to Australia. According to the Army Air Corps Museum, the remaining pilots continued the company in the Philippines with the few aircraft.

On May 9, 1942 and Corregidor Island, intensive fights led to the handover of the Bataan Peninsula of the Allied troops and Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

He was reported when the US armed forces in Bataan showed the Japanese.

The captured service members were exposed to the 65-mile bataan death march and then recorded in the Cabanatuan Pow Camp No. 1, where more than 2,500 prisoners of war died during the war, Swartz among them, said the accounting authority.

When did Swartz die?

According to the prisoner camp and other records, Swartz died on September 23, 1942 and was buried at the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grab 434. He was 21.

“Swartz 'grave was buried as unknown (Manilla American Cemetery and Memorial), has been carefully looked after by the American Battle Monuments Commission in the past 70 years,” said the accounting authority in a press release. “Today SGT. Swartz is commemorated on the walls of the failures on the American Cemetery and Monument in the Philippines in Manila. A rosette is placed next to its name to indicate that it was taken into account.”

How were Swartz's remains identified?

In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan project, DPAA exquited the remains associated with the common grave 434 and sent them to the dpaa laboratory for analysis.

“The project systematically through the records of unknown people, which were originally buried in over 300 common graves, suggests rash groups of unknown persons on the basis of the evidence in connection with their original common grave associations. Due to the extensive event, the Ministry of Defense covers the billing samples for over 2,700 victims who collect both DNA family reference.

Scientists used dental and anthropological analyzes as well as evidence of evidence to identify the remains of Swartz. The armed forced medical examination system also used the mitochondrial DNA analysis (MTDNA).

This article originally appeared in Lansing State Journal: James Swartz died in the Philippines during the Second World War. Now he is resting on the Summit Cemetery