Marine Sgt. Ervin, killed in World War II, has been accounted for

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur B. Ervin, 22, of Detroit, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for on June 21, 2022.

In July 1944, Ervin was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which was part of the invasion force of the island of Saipan in a larger effort to capture the Mariana Islands from Japan. On July 5, Ervin was shot and killed by a sniper while trying to assist a wounded comrade. Due to the chaos surrounding the battle and its aftermath, his body was unable to be recovered.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater. They searched for and disinterred remains on Saipan, but could not identify any as Ervin. He was declared non-recoverable in September 1949.

Remains designated as Unknown X-64 4th Infantry Division Cemetery were recovered from Saipan and interred in the Fort William McKinley Cemetery, now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines.

After thorough historical research, it was determined that X-64 could likely be identified. On Dec. 6, 2018, Unknown X-64 was disinterred and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

To identify Ervin’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

Ervin’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Ervin was buried October 16, 2023, in the Punchbowl.