Remains of World War II Soldier to be buried in Norman, Oklahoma

Courtesy Photo | The remains of World War Soldier U.S. Army Air Forces Cpl. Charles W. Eeds will be interred May 19, at First Christian Church-Norman, Norman, Oklahoma. Eeds was a member of the 48th Materiel Squadron, in the Philippines, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. He was among the thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members captured and interned at Prisoner of War camps, and subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March, when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. Eeds died a prisoner of war July 19, 1942, at age 23.  

FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

05.15.2023

Story by Fonda Bock 

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of a Soldier killed during World War II will be interred May 19, at First Christian Church-Norman, Norman, Oklahoma. Graveside services for U.S. Army Air Forces Cpl. Charles W. Eeds will be performed by Primrose Funeral Service in Norman preceding the interment.

A native of Durant, Oklahoma, Eeds was a member of the 48th Materiel Squadron, in the Philippines, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan Peninsula April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members, including Eeds were captured and interned at Prisoner of War camps when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp, where more than 2,500 POWs perished.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Eeds died July 19, 1942, at age 23, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan Cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains for identification but only 12 sets could be identified. The rest were declared unidentifiable and buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as unknowns.

In January 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

Eeds was accounted for by the DPAA Oct. 25, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence as well as dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Although interred as an unknown in MACM, Eeds’ grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

For additional information about Cpl. Eeds, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3211823/airman-accounted-for-from-wwii-eeds-c/

To learn more about the Department of Defense’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call [phone]/1169.

Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at [phone] and/or Primrose Funeral Service, 405-321-6000.


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• Date Taken: 05.15.2023
• Date Posted: 05.15.2023 10:18
• Story ID: 444728
• Location: FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US