Remains of G.I. missing in PH in WWII finally identified

Defense POW/MIA

The remains of a Missouri G.I. missing in the Philippines during World War II have been identified by a U.S. Defense agency.

U.S. Army Private James R. Tash of St. Louis, Missouri was 20 when he was with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines at the time of the Japanese invasion in December 1941.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Nov. 7 that it was able to identify his remains and had informed his family. He will be buried in St. Louis.

Tash was among thousands of U.S. and Filipino soldiers imprisoned by Japanese forces in April 1942 after the USAFFE surrendered in Bataan.

Tash died on July 19, 1942, and was apparently buried in a common grave with other dead POWs in Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery.

His remains, recovered along with others in 1947, could not be identified until Sept. 27 this year by Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency laboratory in Hawaii.