Remains of WWII U.S. airman identified 82 years after his death

Nov. 13 (UPI) - The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. 1st Class Bernard J. Calvi were identified more than 82 years following his death in a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines.

Calvi of North Adams, Mass., died while being held prisoner in a POW camp after surrendering to Japanese forces in the Philippines in 1942. His remains were identified on Sept. 16, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Wednesday.

Calvi, 23, was stationed with the 17th Pursuit Squadron of the 24th Pursuit Group when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941.

He was among thousands of U.S. and Filipino military personnel who surrendered to Japanese forces in the spring of 1942 and was forced to participate in the infamous Bataan Death March before being held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.

Calvi was among more than 2,500 POWs who died while in captivity at the camps with his date of death reported as July 16, 1942.

Prison camp records indicate Calvi was buried with other deceased prisoners in Common Grave 316 at the POW camp.

The American Graves Registration Service after the war exhumed the bodies at the Cabanatuan cemetery and transferred them to a U.S. military mausoleum near Manila, the agency said.

Calvi's body was among 28 removed from the common grave but was not among 11 bodies identified by the AGRS in 1947.

The AGRS declared Calvi's body and 16 others "unidentifiable" and buried them as "unknowns" at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in April 2019 exhumed those remains as part of the Cabanatuan Project and sent them to the agency's laboratory for analysis.

Scientists used anthropological, dental and DNA analysis to identify Calvi's remains.

Calvi's name was added to the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines and will have a rosette placed next to his name to indicate his remains are identified.

Calvi's remains are scheduled to be buried in North Adams on Dec. 9.