National POW/MIA Recognition Day 2026

Today's Pentagon ceremony for POW/MIA Recognition Day was the largest and most elaborate on record. Also unlike in the past, it was more celebratory than solemn. DOW Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spirited speech emphasizing that the U.S. leaves no man behind, no matter how long it takes. He highlighted the cruelty of Communist regimes toward our POWs. Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke of retrieval of remains from Pacific Battles and the sinking of a hellship off Subic Bay (Oryoku Maru).  Japan was prominently mentioned. Both Hegseth and Caine used the term "hellship" for Japanese ships that carried POWs. Not long ago, the administrators of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii objected to the inclusion of this historical term on a memorial to the Enoura Maru.  VIEW THE CEREMONY HERE. 

And as legislated, the White House issued a proclamation for National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Like the statements made at the Pentagon the emphasis was on the American obligation to recover of POW/MIAs. This seemed like a deviation from past statements. It noted:

The name, story, and fate of each POW/MIA are integral to America’s legacy of valor, and my Administration will spare no effort or resource to fulfill our promise to those who answered the call to serve and paid an extraordinary price on battlefields and in captivity around the world.

Hegseth, Caine Honor Nation's POW/MIAs

Sept. 18, 2026 | By Matthew Olay, Pentagon News, DOW

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hosted a group of approximately 300 former prisoners of war, family members of POWs and those missing in action, service members and other guests today on the Pentagon parade field as part of National POW/MIA Recognition Day.

During their remarks, the two leaders shared stories of service members from past and present conflicts who were POWs or MIAs, emphasizing the country's commitment to never leaving anyone behind.

"That's why we're here this morning: because the United States military leaves no man behind; never before, and never — still — to this day," Hegseth said.

"We refuse to forget the warriors from whom our nation demanded the ultimate and most agonizing sacrifice; not just in sacrifices of life — in some cases, of course — but the sacrifice of identity, the sacrifice of a grave," he added.

Speaking just before Hegseth, Caine also emphasized the military's relentless commitment to leaving no one behind.

"Today, my brothers and sisters, who are here from those families — the families of our missing and our prisoners of war — thank you. We owe you and your families an incredible debt of gratitude, and we owe those that are still missing and their families who continue to wait for them our fullest and continued effort to bring every single one of them home," Caine told the guests, adding that the obligation to bring everyone home doesn't fade with time or lessen with distance.

"Our duty does not end until every missing American is accounted for and brought home to a grateful nation. This is our nation's debt, and we will always continue to repay it," Caine said. 

Hegseth and Caine also took time during their remarks to praise the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which was formed in 2015 to account for missing service members from past conflicts.

One anecdote Hegseth used to point out the work DPAA is doing was the story of a group of World War II-era U.S. service members who were captured by the Japanese and put into the hold of a "hell ship" in 1944.

"When the ship [Oryoku Maru] was sinking in Subic Bay [Philippines], and our men tried to swim to safety, the enemy [Japan] shot them. But today we're finding their ID bracelets, broken eyeglasses, and American military shoes – and we're bringing them home at last," Hegseth said.

To date, DPAA has identified more than 1,000 sets of remains and accounted for thousands of others.
Among the guests attending the ceremony was the daughter of an American World War II POW who was forced to participate in the Bataan Death March and ultimately was imprisoned on one of the hell ships Hegseth mentioned in his remarks.

"It was nice to hear someone else mention [the ships] because I've just heard my dad talk about them … so that was nice," the woman, who traveled across the country from Northern California to attend the ceremony, said.

"It's nice that [National POW/MIA Recognition Day is] still recognized – it gives hope for other people," she added.

First observed in 1979, National POW/MIA Recognition Day is observed annually on the third Friday of September.

Return to California of Pvt. Mitchell

Burial of Pvt. Mitchell in Hamilton, California

On Saturday May 3, 2025, Pvt. James Stanley Mitchell of Chico, California was finally home. Eighty-two years after he died of starvation and disease in Cabanatuan, a Japanese prison camp, he was buried alongside his parents.

A memorial service for Pvt. Mitchell was held in Hamilton City, California on May 3 at 10:00 a.m., followed by a full military graveside service at the Los Molinos Cemetery at 1 p.m. The Brusie Funeral Home in Chico, California handled the arrangements.

He was a soldier with Company B, 31st Infantry Regiment who fought in 1941 and 1942 to defend the Philippine Commonwealth against the invading Japanese. It is unclear if he was able to escape from Bataan to Corregidor Island with remnants of the 31st where he would have been surrendered on May 6, 1942. Or he may have remained on the Bataan Peninsula to be surrendered on April 9th where he may have been forced on the infamous Bataan Death March or was recovering from wounds and disease  in a field hospital.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that officially identified his remains on Sept. 30, 2024 believes he was surrendered on Bataan and suffered the Bataan Death March. Mitchell had died Jan. 7, 1943, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 816. In 1947, the  American Graves Registration ServiceAGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. One set of remains from Common Grave 816 was identified, while the remaining three were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns. In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 816 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

In 1946, the American Legion Auxiliary in Hamilton City, California was named for Pvt. Mitchell and his hometown friend and fellow member of the 31st, Pvt. Robert Clayton Zimmerman--"Zimmerman-Mitchell, Post 722." Pvt. Zimmerman also died as a POW of Japan in the Cabanatuan prison camp. He succumb to disease and starvation on June 19, 1942 (aged 25) just two months after surviving the Bataan Death March.

To honor and remember Pvts. Mitchell and Zimmeran you may want to do these three things:
1. Add a virtual memorial to Pvt. Mitchell's Find A Grave site: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56756838/james-%22stanley%22-mitchell
2. Add a virtual memorial to Pvt. Zimmerman's Find A Grave site: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43396958/robert-clayton-zimmerman

3. Send a thank you to Congressman Doug LaMalfa's (R-CA-1) Veterans staffer Mr. Sam Dorsey, c/o Office of Representative Doug LaMalfa, 408 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC  20515 for writing, as you can see below, the most accurate and sensitive memorial to a POW of Japan I have ever read in the Congressional Record. Mr. Dorsey has earned our thanks.

            

               HONORING PRIVATE JAMES ``STANLEY'' MITCHELL

                               ______
                                 
                           HON. DOUG LaMALFA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 30, 2025

  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a great American 
hero, Private James ``Stanley'' Mitchell, who volunteered to serve our 
great Nation in World War II and died 82 years ago in a Japanese POW 
camp in Luzon, Philippines. Private Mitchell's remains were located and 
identified and have been returned to his family, a testament of his 
courage and sacrifice.

  Private Mitchell was born in Joplin, Missouri on October 2, 1917. The 
family would move frequently during his early life, eventually settling 
down in Hamilton City, California.

  On March 4, 1941, Private Mitchell enlisted in the United States Army 
and was deployed as part of the 31st Infantry Regiment on assignment to 
Clark Field in Luzon, Philippines. Ten months after his initial 
deployment to the Philippines, Imperial Japanese Forces would bomb 
Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States and all her territories into 
World War II. Japanese forces begin a full-scale invasion of Luzon, 
Philippines on December 22, 1941. The 31st Infantry Regiment stood 
defiant and courageous against overwhelming Japanese forces until their 
surrender on April 9, 1942.

  Private Mitchell joined approximately 72,000 American and Filipino 
prisoners of war (POW) on a 65-mile march known as the Bataan Death 
March. These brave souls endured torture, starvation, disease and 
ultimately death at the hands of the Japanese forces. By the end of the 
march, only approximately 52,000 American and Filipino POWs remained 
live.

  Private Mitchell and many surviving POWs would be held at the 
Cabanatuan POW Camp. Conditions would not improve for these courageous 
men. On January 7, 1943, Private Mitchell succumbed to starvation and 
disease, dying at a weight of only 70 pounds. Private Mitchell was 
buried in one of the many mass graves at the camp.

  The Cabanatuan POW Camp would be liberated on January 30, 1945, with 
only 489 POWs remaining alive. Unfortunately, 2,656 brave American POWs 
had lost their lives at the camp.

  Private Mitchell was the first World War II casualty from Hamilton 
City. His status as a POW brought great sadness and pain to his family. 
The news of his death brought devastation to his parents and family. 
His remains were exhumed and identified in September of 2024. Private 
Mitchell's remains were brought home to the United States on May 3, 
2025, and he will be laid to rest between his parents at the Los 
Molinos Cemetery, in Northern California.

  Private Mitchell's story and sacrifice will not be forgotten. His 
legacy and impact to our community will continue to be felt. His return 
will bring closure to his family. God bless Private Mitchell and 
welcome home.
                         ____________________

Notes

Company B, 31st Infantry Regiment

https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-171/issue-72/extensions-of-remarks-section/article/E369-2 

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/3967557/soldier-accounted-for-from-wwii-mitchell-j 

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000MvCQWEA3 

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/496447/remains-world-war-ii-soldier-buried-los-molinos-california

https://krcrtv.com/news/local/wwii-soldiers-remains-return-home-after-84-years 

https://www.actionnewsnow.com/news/hamilton-city-honors-fallen-wwii-heros-return-home-81-years-after-death/article_8489ee3d-628b-438e-91ad-300ee480ed1c.html 

BURIAL: Los Molinos Cemetery, Los Molinos, California

Convening on the history of the POWs of Japan

13TH ANNUAL AMERICAN DEFENDERS OF BATAAN AND
CORREGIDOR MEMORIAL SOCIETY CONVENTION

May 4-6, 2023

Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown

2600 Louisiana BLVD NE

Albuquerque, NM

Special hotel rate available by April 6, 2023

Call 24 hrs. a day at 1800-325-3535 and ask for the American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor Memorial Society (ADBC-MS) Rate or LINK (suggest you call to see if you can retain the conference rate after the deadline)

Find registration form HERE.

You can email in a pdf of the registration form and call in your registration fee by emailing Ms. Judy Pruitt, pruittja13@aol.com   

Thursday, May 4, 2023

• 2023 POW/Japanese Friendship Trip to Japan discussed by the seven “children” of eight POWs.

• John Duresky talks about the book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival by David L Britt, with John Duresky and Vickie Graham  (ISBN 978-1-09838-539-2, august 31, 2021). The story of US Army 1st Lt. Chester K Britt who served at Ft Wint in Subic Bay and then in the Battle of Bataan. He was from La Crosse, Wisconsin.

• William Dalness and Josh Kefauver discuss their relatives in “Two Wars Two Generations.” Harold Elmore "Swede" Dalness, 31st Inf (PA) who fought in the Battle of Corregidor as an officer with the Provisional Battalion of the 4th Marines and was a POW of Imperial Japan and his namesake, Harold Edward Dalnes, a sailor aboard the USS Cyclops that disappeared in the Caribbean Sea during WW I.

Friday, May 5, 2023

• Chris Schurtz, Grandson of Major Paul W. Schurtz (515th Coast Artillery, died aboard the Oryoku Maru) discusses memorials across New Mexico remembering the Battle of Bataan and the Bataan Death March.

• Paul Ruiz tells the stories from his father MSGT Joe Ruiz (U.S. Army Philippine Scout, POW, Guerrilla Fighter) about the war in the Philippines.

• Gregory Kupsky, Ph.D., Senior Historian on the WWII Team in the Indo-Pacific Directorate at Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency gives an update on the disinterments of Unknowns from Manila American Cemetery and the  National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl, Hawaii)

Saturday, May 6, 2023

• Thomas H. Begay, U.S. Marine, Navajo Code Talker at Iwo Jima talks about The Navajo Code Talkers: Their Code Was Never Broken Presenter:  

• The Next Generation: The Grandchildren of Bataan and Corregidor Veterans. Panel led by the grandchildren of Agapita Silva (200th Coast Artillery)

Banquet-Speaker: author Steve Moore discusses his book As Good As Dead: The Daring Escape of American POWs From a Japanese Death Camp about the Palawan Massacre.

Never Forgotten - November 2 Funeral for USCG LT Crotty

LT Thomas James Eugene "Jimmy" Crotty was the only member of the US Coast Guard to become a POW of Japan. His combat record garnered the Coast Guard a battle streamer for the Philippines Campaign. He will "return" home on November 1, 2019. Semper Paratus

Arlington Cemetery Memorial

His remains were recently identified after being exhumed from Common Grave 312 in the American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila in the Philippines.

There are many opportunities during LT Crotty's return home from Hawaii to Buffalo, New York to honor him. Please take a moment to sign his "tribute wall" LINK HERE

On Thursday October 31, the repatriation ceremony for LT Crotty at Coast Guard will be held at Air Station Barbers Point, Kapolei, Hawaii at 11:00am. During the repatriation ceremony, a Coast Guard Honor Platoon led by Rear Adm. Kevin Lunday, commander, Coast Guard 14th District, will escort Crotty’s remains from the hearse to a HC-130 Hercules airplane and accompany the remains to Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento. There the casket will be transferred to another plane to continue its journey home.

On Friday, November 1, his arrival honors will be held at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, 10405 Lockport Rd., New York at 10:00am. 

All are invited to join LT Crotty's family on Saturday, November 2nd at Noon for a funeral Mass for LT Crotty at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Buffalo, New York. He will be buried with full military honors next to his parents in Holy Cross Cemetery, 2900 South Park Avenue, Lackawanna, Erie County, New York. Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Karl L. Schultz is expected to attend as are senior officials from the Navy and Marines. 

The family will also receive LT Crotty's Filipino Veterans of WWII Congressional Gold Medal during the ceremony. It symbolizes Congressional recognition of the enduring bond between the American and Filipino forces defending the Philippines against Imperial Japan's invasion.

A 1934 Coast Guard Academy graduate, Crotty was assigned mid-1941 to the US Navy Mine Recovery Unit at Cavite Navy Yard near Manila in the Philippines. He served aboard the USS Quail in the Philippines during the outbreak of World War II in early 1942 and in April aided the 4th Marines in the defense of Corregidor, an island in Manila Bay. He missed the epic escape of the USS Quail's captain and 17 crew members in a 36-ft motor launch across the Pacific to Australia. Instead, with the surrender of Corregidor on May 6, 1942, he found himself on the rocky beach of Corregidor's 92nd Garage Area. At the end of the month he and most of the POWs on Corregidor were taken to Manila and marched down Dewey Blvd to Bilibid Prison. From there they were put standing in trains to the Cabanatuan POW Camp. He died there on July 21, 1942 of diphtheria. See HERE for more of his story on this blog and HERE for the official Coast Guard biography.

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance (CGMA) has established an award in LT Crotty's name. The Lieutenant Thomas James Crotty Inspirational Leadership Award recognizes the CGMA Representative who best exemplifies a willingness to go above and beyond in the service of the Coast Guard family. Donations in lieu of flowers to support this award may be made to Coast Guard Mutual Assistance online or sent to 1005 North Glebe Road, Suite 200, Arlington VA 22201. Please note LT Crotty on the donation.

News story from The Buffalo News, October 27, 2019.

THE Coast Guard's POW of Japan

Lt James Crotty, USCG

August 4th is the birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard. On this day in 1790, the first Congress authorized the construction of 10 vessels to enforce tariff and trade laws, prevent smuggling, and protect the collection of federal revenue.

Thus, today, we pause to remember the Coast Guard's one POW of Japan. Records suggest there were two others, but Coast Guard historians believe they were actually sailors assigned to Coast Guard duties in the Philippines.

By all accounts, Lt. Thomas James "Jimmy" Crotty is a hero. He arrived in the Philippines on October 28, 1941 for what was supposed to be a six month deployment as a member of a Navy mine recovery unit near Manila.

A 1934 Coast Guard Academy graduate, Crotty had never before traveled outside North America. He served on board cutters based out of New York, Seattle, Alaska and Sault Ste. Marie. His career included duty on the cutter USCGC Tampa (WMEC-902) during its famous rescue of passengers from the burning liner SS Morro Castle, and a Justice Department appointment as special deputy on the Bering Sea Patrol.

Prior to his Philippines assignment he studied at the Navy’s Mine Warfare School in Yorktown, Virginia. With additional training at the Navy’s Mine Recovery Unit in Washington, DC, Lt. Crotty became the Coast Guard’s leading expert in mine operations, demolition and the use of explosives. He was first assigned to the In-Shore Patrol Headquarters at the American Navy yard at Cavite, located near Manila.

On December 10, Japanese aircraft bombed and damaged most of the facilities at the Cavite Navy Yard and advancing enemy ground forces necessitated the movement of American units behind fortified lines on the Bataan Peninsula and onto the island fortress of Corregidor. During this evacuation, Crotty supervised the demolition of strategic civilian and military facilities to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. This equipment and material included the Navy yard’s ammunition magazine and the fleet submarine USS Sea Lion, which the enemy damaged during the air attack. Crotty had the sub stripped of useful parts, filled it with depth charges and blew it up on Christmas Day.

Corregidor under attack

The Navy withdrew Crotty and its other personnel from Cavite to the Sixteenth Naval District Headquarters at Fort Mills, on Corregidor. The Navy reassigned Crotty to the local guard unit, but he also participated in night raids on the mainland to demolish more American equipment and facilities before the Japanese occupied Manila.

During February and March of 1942, Crotty served as executive officer of the Navy minesweeper USS Quail (AM-15), which shot down enemy aircraft and swept American mine fields so U.S. submarines could surface at night to deliver goods and remove critical personnel. During his time as executive officer, the Quail served as a command vessel and provided shore bombardment for an offensive against Japanese landings attempting to cut off supply lines to American forces trapped on the Bataan Peninsula.

click to order

After Bataan was surrendered on April 9, 1942, Corregidor's defenders held out for another month. Crews on board Navy vessels, such as Quail, had cannibalized deck guns and moved them onto the island to mount a final stand against the encircling enemy forces. Crotty served up to the bitter end fighting alongside the island’s stubborn Army, Navy and Marine defenders. Eye witnesses reported last seeing him commanding a force of Marines and Army personnel manning 75-millimeter beach guns firing down on enemy forces landing on Corregidor’s beaches. When Japanese bombardment finally silenced Crotty’s guns, Corregidor’s defenders knew the island fortress would soon fall.

The Quail was scuttled May 5th to prevent her capture. After, Lt. Commander John H. Morrill gave his crew the choice of surrendering to the Japanese or striking out across open ocean the Quail's 36-foot diesel motor launch. Only 17 of his 24-member crew could join him on the desperate voyage. Lt. Crotty had been separated from the crew, as mentioned above, to command a mixed defensive unit on Corregidor and was not included. With a pistol recovered from a dead serviceman as their only armament (this may not be true), supplies and weapons scavenged from the beached tugboat Ranger on Caballo Island, and with a few charts and navigational aids from the Ranger, Morrill and his crew evaded the Japanese and transversed 2,060 miles of ocean, reaching Darwin, Australia on June 6 after 31 days.  See Morrill's account in his book: SOUTH FROM CORREGIDOR

motor launch to Darwin

With Corregidor’s capitulation on May 6, Crotty became the first Coast Guard prisoner of war since the War of 1812, when the British captured Revenue Cutter Service cuttermen. At the end of May, the Japanese loaded Crotty and his fellow prisoners into watercraft transferring POWs from Corregidor Island to Manila, where they were marched through the city to Bilibid Prison and eventually taken by railroad in box cars to the Cabanatuan prison camp in northern Luzon.

Crotty’s fellow prisoners at Cabanatuan knew him for his love of sports as well as his sense of humor and optimism. One of them wagered a bet with Crotty on the outcome of the 1942 World Series while another later recounted that: “The one striking thing that I remember was his continued optimism and cheerfulness under the most adverse circumstances. He was outstanding in this respect at a time when such an attitude was so necessary for general welfare.” But Crotty’s courage and optimism could not sustain him late in the summer of 1942 when a diphtheria epidemic swept through the camp killing forty prisoners per day. Crotty contracted the illness and, with the Camp's lack of necessary medications and proper health care, he passed away only days after getting sick joining the more than 2,500 American POWs who perished in this camp during the war.

It had been unclear if he died July 19th or September 30th. On September 10, 2019, the Defense Personnel Accounting Agency (DPAA) confirmed that Crotty had died July 19, 1942, and was buried along with fellow prisoners in the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery, in grave number 312. In January 2018, the “unknown” remains associated with Common Grave 312 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis, including one set, designated X-2858 Manila #2. These remains proved to be LT. Crotty's.

In a May 6, 2010 ceremony in Buffalo, New York, Crotty's descendants received his long-overdue Bronze Star, Purple Heart, the Prisoner of War Medal and the Philippines Defense Medal. It is possible for the family to now apply for the Congressional Gold Medal given to those who served with Filipino troops during WWII.

On November 2, 2019, a rosette will be placed beside his name on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial indicating that he has been found. His funeral will be that day in Buffalo, New York at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church  and he will be buried with full military honors next to his parents in Holy Cross Cemetery, 2900 South Park Avenue, Lackawanna, Erie County, New York.

One of the 43 Battle Streamers on the Coast Guard flag--Philippines Defense--is entirely due to the actions of one man, LT Crotty from Buffalo, New York, who helped command a Navy vessel, scuttled a submarine, swept mines, served as adjutant, led Marines and soldiers defending Corregidor and held the line to the last.

Requiescat In Pace

Liberally borrowed from Compass and War History Online.
Updated October 20 and 21, 2019