After 8 Decades, WWII Soldier’s Remains Return to Oklahoma for Burial
FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Cpl. James M. Walker, 46, of Pawnee, Oklahoma who died as a prisoner of war during World War II, will be interred Jan. 9, in IOOF Cemetery, Maramec, Oklahoma. Poteet Funeral Home will coordinate graveside services preceding the interment.
Walker was a member of 31st Infantry Regiment when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Walker was among thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members who were captured and interned at POW camps. 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, Walker died Jan. 1, 1943, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 822.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency accounted for Walker on March 19, 2024.
For more information on DPAA’s efforts to locate and identify Walker, please visit: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4333628/soldier-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-walker-j/
U.S. Army Human Resources Command’s Past Conflict Repatriations Branch plays a vital role in the process of identifying, locating and contacting subsequent generation family members of Soldiers missing or killed in action during WWII and the Korean War to positively identify previously undiscovered or unknown remains.
Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact Poteet Funeral Home, 918-762-2557.
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