Remains of World War II Soldier, Swanton, Vermont native, to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

08.21.2023

Story by Fonda Bock 

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of Army Pfc. Arthur C. Barrett, killed during World War II, will be interred Aug. 30 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Everly-Wheatley Funerals and Cremation, Alexandria, Virginia, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.

A native of Swanton, Vermont, Barrett was a member of the 31st Infantry Regiment 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 Barrett, were captured and interned at prisoner of war camps when 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 prison camp and other historical records, Barrett died July 19, 1942, at age 27, and buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 312.

Following the war, remains buried in Common Grave 312 were exhumed by the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) and relocated to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the remains were examined by the AGRS for identification but only 12 sets could be identified – the rest were declared unidentifiable and buried as unknowns at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. Those remains were disinterred in January 2018 and sent to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

Barrett was accounted for by the DPAA July 20, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence as well as anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Although interred as an unknown in MACM, Barrett’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

For additional information about Pfc. Barrett, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3113893/soldier-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-barrett-a/
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 [phone]/1169.

Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at [phone] and/or Everly-Wheatley Funerals and Cremation, [phone].


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• Date Taken: 08.21.2023
• Date Posted: 08.21.2023 13:55
• Story ID: 451804
• Location: LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, US