Identified WWII Soldier. Pvt Earl E.R. Seibert US Army, Allentown PA. May 24th/25th
14 May 24 |
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Remains Identified
Homecoming
US Army WWII POW/MIA
Pvt Earl E.R. Seibert
Friday May 24-Saturday May 25, 2024
Stephen’s Funeral Home
Allentown PA
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The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. Earl E.R. Seibert, 23, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 10, 2023. Earl will finally be returning home after 82 years
In late 1941, Seibert was a member of Headquarters Company, 803rd Engineer Battalion (Aviation), when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Seibert was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Seibert died July 27, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 225.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Three of the sets of remains from Common Grave 225 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In March 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Seibert’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Seibert’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
The Army had in 1939 formed the Engineer Aviation Battalion just for the Army Air Force. It was a highly skilled engineer and construction battalion of ALL volunteers. Earl volunteered for this battalion, which was made up of 12 units of 800 volunteers. He was accepted for this unit, 803rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, which was sent to the Philippines, arriving in October 1941. Pearl Harbor was bombed December 7, 1941, at 0700 and the Philippines ten hours later. By December 22, 1941, all American and Filipino troops had retreated to Bataan. January 16, 1942, Earl was seriously wounded in “hostile combat”. After hospital treatment for his sustained wound, he returned to combat until forced to surrender with all the troops, with his disability he survived the Bataan Death March in April 1942 to become a POW and sustained another wound while a POW leading to his death receiving his second Purple Heart. He was truly an American and well deserving of the funeral the Army is awarding him.
For his service Pvt Earl E.R. Seibert was Posthumously awarded, the
Bronze Star, 1 Purple Heart with 1 Bronze Cluster, POW Medal, Good Conduct, Presidential Unit Citation, American Defense Service Medal with Foreign Service Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 1 Bronze Star, WW II Victory Medal, Philippine Defense Ribbon with 1 Bronze Star, Honorable Service Lapel Button WW II, Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Foreign Unit Award not issued by the Department of the Army.
Pvt Earl E. R. Seibert will be buried on May 24-25, 2024, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Pvt. Seibert is the truest of heroes. Earl E.R. Seibert has made the ultimate sacrifice while serving his country honorably. Now it is our turn to stand and give him the honor he has earned by making the ultimate sacrifice for his country, as he finally returns home.
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Friday, May 24th 2024
Stephens Funeral Home
274 N. Krocks Road
Allentown, PA 18106
Staging: 1830 Hrs
Military Viewing 1900 Hrs.
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/rMnJYoPF3q2ytqpm9
RCIC: Richard Sam
Email: rsam1sg2@yahoo.com
Jordan UCC
1837 Church Road
309 N and Walbert Ave
Allentown, PA 18104
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/bLLidsgjnHWXjKCx5
Staging: 0830 Hrs.
Viewing: 0900–1100 Hrs
Service: 1100 Hrs.
Entombment: Following Service
Grandview Cemetery
2735 Walbert Ave
Allentown, PA 18104
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/5a9A3uhSQuvu1Kh7A
RCIC: Richard Sam
Email: rsam1sg2@yahoo.com
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For mission information, contact:
Eric M. Cramer, Veterans Liaison East
Email: pgrpa.vetrep.east@gmail.com
Phone: 717-507-5213
