Cpl Ralph L Bennett
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. Ralph L. Bennett, 22, of Ames, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted for on April 29, 2019.
(This identification was initially published on May 1, 2019.)
In June 1944, Bennett was a member of Headquarters Company, 209th Engineer Combat Battalion, as an engineer in the China-Burma-India Theater. On June 13, 1944, Bennett’s battalion fought in the siege of Myitkyina, Burma, after successfully taking the airfield west of Myitkyina from Japanese control. Bennett was reported to have been killed during the battle.
The remains of servicemen killed during the battle were buried in at least eight different temporary cemeteries and numerous isolated burial locations. Eventually, all known burials were concentrated into the U.S. Military Cemetery at Myitkyina, including the remains of those who were not identified. In January and February 1946, all of the remains at the U.S. Military Cemetery were disinterred and transferred to the U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda, India. The exhumation of the U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda was conducted in September and October 1947.
One set of remains, designated Unknown X-48 Kalaikunda, was reportedly disinterred on Oct. 21, 1947 and transferred to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where they were unable to be identified. They were subsequently buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, in March 1949.
On July 16, 2018, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-48 Kalaikunda from the Punchbowl and accessioned the remains into the laboratory.
(This identification was initially published on May 1, 2019.)
In June 1944, Bennett was a member of Headquarters Company, 209th Engineer Combat Battalion, as an engineer in the China-Burma-India Theater. On June 13, 1944, Bennett’s battalion fought in the siege of Myitkyina, Burma, after successfully taking the airfield west of Myitkyina from Japanese control. Bennett was reported to have been killed during the battle.
The remains of servicemen killed during the battle were buried in at least eight different temporary cemeteries and numerous isolated burial locations. Eventually, all known burials were concentrated into the U.S. Military Cemetery at Myitkyina, including the remains of those who were not identified. In January and February 1946, all of the remains at the U.S. Military Cemetery were disinterred and transferred to the U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda, India. The exhumation of the U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda was conducted in September and October 1947.
One set of remains, designated Unknown X-48 Kalaikunda, was reportedly disinterred on Oct. 21, 1947 and transferred to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where they were unable to be identified. They were subsequently buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, in March 1949.
On July 16, 2018, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-48 Kalaikunda from the Punchbowl and accessioned the remains into the laboratory.