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FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of Army Pvt. David S. Whipple, killed during World War II, will be interred Nov. 3 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Everly-Wheatley Funerals and Cremation, Alexandria, Virginia, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.
A native of Plymouth, Indiana, Whipple was a member of the 27th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, 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 Whipple, were captured and interned at POW camps after U.S. forces in Bataan fell to the Japanese. The men were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March, then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp where more than 2,500 POWs perished during the war. According to historical records, Whipple died July 26, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 225. He was 23 years old.
In March 2018, the unidentified remains associated with Common Grave 225, which had been relocated to the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial years earlier, were disinterred by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency laboratory for analysis. Whipple was accounted for by the DPAA Aug. 15, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence as well as dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.
For additional information about Pvt. Whipple, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3132128/soldier-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-whipple-d/
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 (703) 699-1420/1169.
Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490 and/or Everly-Wheatley Funerals and Cremation, (703) 998-9200.
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| Date Taken: | 10.30.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.30.2023 15:55 |
| Story ID: | 456807 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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