Army Pvt. Bagley, one of Merrill's Marauders in WWII, accounted for

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced recently that Army Pvt. 1st Class Luther E. Bagley, 22, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, killed during World War II, was accounted for on May 7, 2024.

In the spring and summer of 1944, Pfc. Bagley was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, reinforcing the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), also known as Merrill’s Marauders. On July 25, Bagley’s battalion was engaged with Japanese forces in the Battle of Myitkyina, in Burma. It was reported he was killed in action while attempting to secure an airstrip near the village of Radhapur. His remains were not accounted for during or after the war.

In 1947, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel recovered a set of unknown remains, designated X-524 Barrackpore, in the vicinity of Myitkyina. The remains were initially examined at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, but investigators were unable to scientifically identify them. X-524 was interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In 2021, DPAA disinterred Unknown X-524 from the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis.

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

Bagley’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City, Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Bagley will be buried in Fitzgerald, Georgia, on August 10, 2024.