Reserve Seaman 2nd Class Deward W Duncan
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Reserve Seaman 2nd Class Deward W. Duncan, Jr., 19, of Monroe, Georgia, killed during World War II, was accounted for on May 17, 2018.
(This identification was initially announced on Sept. 27, 2018.)
In January 1944, Duncan was assigned to Aviation, Construction, Ordnance, Repair, Navy Fourteen, Standard Landing Craft Unit 4, when a Japanese air raid on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, dropped a bomb near his tent. Duncan was killed January 12, 1944 and was reportedly buried the same day in Cemetery #33.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company (604th GRC) centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa to Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation; however, almost half of the known casualties were never found. Duncan’s remains were among those not recovered. On Feb. 28, 1949, a military review board declared Duncan’s remains non-recoverable.
In 2017, History Flight, Inc., notified DPAA that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed to be missing American service members who had been buried in Cemetery #33. The remains were turned over to DPAA in 2018.
To identify Duncan’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
(This identification was initially announced on Sept. 27, 2018.)
In January 1944, Duncan was assigned to Aviation, Construction, Ordnance, Repair, Navy Fourteen, Standard Landing Craft Unit 4, when a Japanese air raid on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, dropped a bomb near his tent. Duncan was killed January 12, 1944 and was reportedly buried the same day in Cemetery #33.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company (604th GRC) centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa to Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation; however, almost half of the known casualties were never found. Duncan’s remains were among those not recovered. On Feb. 28, 1949, a military review board declared Duncan’s remains non-recoverable.
In 2017, History Flight, Inc., notified DPAA that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed to be missing American service members who had been buried in Cemetery #33. The remains were turned over to DPAA in 2018.
To identify Duncan’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.