Subscribe
Soldiers from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), the Caisson Detachment and the U.S. Army Band, “Pershing’s Own” conduct full military funeral honors with escort for U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. James Murray in Section 71 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, April 15, 2026. Murray was captured and died as a prisoner of war (POW) during World War II. His remains stayed unidentified until Sept. 23, 2024 – more than 80 years since his death on Nov. 22, 1942.
From a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) press release:
In late 1941, Murray was a member of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Murray was among those reported captured 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 #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Murray was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grove 816. Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRD) personnel exhumed those buried in this cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examine the remains, attempting to ID them. One set of three from Common Grave 816 was identified. Those unidentified were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the Common Grave 816 remains and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis. Using dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and mitochondrial DNA, DPAA and Armed Forces Medical Examiner System scientists identified Murray’s remains.
Jo Ann Hunter, Murray’s cousin, received the U.S. flag from his funeral service.
(U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)
| Date Taken: | 04.15.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2026 14:10 |
| Photo ID: | 9660417 |
| VIRIN: | 260415-A-IW468-6017 |
| Resolution: | 8256x5504 |
| Size: | 8.03 MB |
| Location: | ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 1 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Full Military Funeral Honors with Escort are Conducted for U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. James Murray in Section 71 [Image 26 of 26], by Elizabeth Fraser, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
