Young Soldier Missing in Action in World War II Finally Identified After 79 Years
BOSTON - Pvt. Wing O. Hom, a young soldier from Boston who vanished during World War II, has been identified after an agonizing 79-year wait.
On February 2, 1944, Hom, aged only 20, went missing in action while engaged in a fierce battle against Nazi forces near Cisterna di Latina, Italy.
The U.S. government disclosed that Hom's body was never recovered, and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. Consequently, the War Department declared him deceased on February 3, 1945. A year later, remains discovered just outside the Italian town were tentatively connected to Hom. These remains were laid to rest in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuna, Italy, in 1948.
In September 2021, the remains were relocated and transported to a laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for thorough examination and identification. Through meticulous mitochondrial DNA analysis and anthropological evaluation, scientists achieved a positive match, formally accounting for Hom on April 6, 2023.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) made the long-awaited announcement on Tuesday, emphasizing that they had chosen to brief Hom's family comprehensively before making the information public.
Hom is scheduled to be buried in Brooklyn, New York, on October 11, 2023, bringing closure to a decades-long journey of uncertainty for his family and providing a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made during World War II.