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Monroe (WGCL) — A Georgia sailor killed during combat in WWII has finally been accounted for.
Navy Reserve Seaman Deward W. Duncan Jr. was officially accounted for on Thursday after his remains were identified by the DPAA (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency) after they were found in a cemetery in the Gilbert Islands of Kiribati, a country in the Central Pacific.
Duncan was killed in a Japanese air raid on January 12, 1944. On Feb. 28, 1949, a military review board declared Duncan’s remains non-recoverable.
In 2017, a burial site was discovered and several remains believed to be of service members were located. The remains were turned over to the DPAA in 2018.
The DPAA announced Thursday that Duncan’s remains were among those found and he is now officially accounted for.
According to the DPAA, Duncan’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others killed or lost in WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Currently, there are 72,741 service members still unaccounted for from WWII.
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