DNA helps solve a more than 80-year-old mystery by identifying a World War II soldier
Joseph Gala, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was killed in action in Burma during World War II.
Quick Look
- DNA made it possible to identify Joseph Gala, an American soldier who disappeared in 1944 during a mission in Burma (now Myanmar).
- He was 21 years old and belonged to the 'Merrill Marauders'.
- His remains were exhumed from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu and analyzed using dental, forensic, and mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing by the DPAA and the Armed Forces Forensic Medicine System.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Joseph Gala disappeared in 1944 during a mission in Burma, then the China-Burma-India theater of operations in World War II. He belonged to the 'Merrill Marauders', a volunteer infantry unit commanded by Frank Merrill. Some 3,000 young people volunteered and only 200 returned. His remains were buried in military cemeteries in Burma and India and later moved to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. In 2018, the DPAA began exhuming unidentified remains from the Punchbowl to identify deceased soldiers in Myitkyina.
DNA has made it possible to solve a mystery that has lasted more than 80 years, since thanks to it, an American soldier who was reported missing in 1944 has been identified.
As CBS reports, Joseph Gala, a native of Lynn, Massachusetts, was declared killed in action on July 14, 1944, two months after he went missing during a mission in what was then Burma, now Myanmar, according to the Department of Defense Prisoner of War and Missing Persons Accounting Agency (DPAA).
Gala was 21 years old when she died. Although the circumstances of his death were never recorded, he was last seen advancing with his battalion towards a heavily fortified Japanese area near the town of Mankrin.
Gala had fought alongside a volunteer infantry unit that became known as the 'Merrill's Marauders', after their commander, Frank Merrill.
Then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt requested the battalion to carry out a "secret and dangerous mission" in the China-Burma-India theater of operations. Some 3,000 young people volunteered for the mission, and only 200 returned home.
The mission on which Gala was last seen alive marked the "ultimate objective" of his unit overseas. On May 17, 1944, the unit captured the Myitkyina airstrip in Burma after defeating the Japanese Army, a much larger elite unit, in five major and 30 minor battles.
Gala's remains were buried in several American military cemeteries in Burma and India. They were later moved, along with the remains of other unidentified soldiers, to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The DPAA has reported that authorities began exhuming unidentified remains from the Punchbowl in an effort to identify more soldiers who died at Myitkyina in 2018. Scientists eventually managed to identify the Gala members through dental and forensic tests, as well as "anthropological and circumstantial evidence," according to the DPAA.
Additionally, Armed Forces Forensic Medicine System scientists used mitochondrial and autosomal DNA analysis, mitochondrial genome sequencing data, and nuclear single nucleotide polymorphism testing.
Open Questions
- What were the exact circumstances of Joseph Gala's death?
- Which relatives of Gala provided the DNA samples for identification?
- When will the official Gala funeral or tribute take place?
- How many other unidentified Myitkyina soldiers have been identified since 2018?
