Remains of Washburn man killed in World War II identified

Officials have identified the remains of a Washburn soldier killed during World War II.

Army Pfc. Charles Reiser in June 1944 was a member of Company D of the 708th Amphibious Tank Battalion. He was killed June 15 that year during Operation Forager on the island of Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Marines ashore on the island were under assault from Japanese mortars, which caused heavy casualties and impeded the soldiers' movements. Reiser was 20 years old.

The exact cause of Reiser's death is unknown, but it is believed his unit was providing armor support to the Marines' initial landing on the beaches, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency . His remains were not known to have been accounted for during or after the war. The War Department declared him nonrecoverable in June 1949.

Remains identified as Unknown X-57 were later reported as buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Saipan, but the American Graves Registration Service was not able to identify them, and they were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines in 1950.

Historians with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency concluded through research that Unknown X-57 was possibly associated with Reiser. The remains were disinterred in December 2022 and sent to the agency's laboratory for analysis. Scientists from that agency and from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used dental and anthropological (skeletal) analysis, circumstantial evidence and DNA analysis to identify the remains as being those of Reiser this past June. Officials announced the finding this week.

Reiser will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on a date to be determined. A rosette will be placed next to his name on the Walls of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu to indicate he has been accounted for.

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, helped advance legislation in 2014 that created the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. He issued a statement Tuesday thanking the agency and saying "It's vital that we always remember the bravery and sacrifices made by our servicemembers during World War II. Charles, who was killed along with thousands of other Americans during the Battle of Saipan, reminds us yet again of the courage of the Greatest Generation. We honor Charles' sacrifice and join his family, his fellow veterans and North Dakotans in paying tribute to his loss."