World War II soldier who died as prisoner of war identified more than 80 years later
The former U.S. Army private was accounted for in July 2023, but his family just recently received the full briefing on his identification.
The former U.S. Army private was accounted for in July 2023, but his family just recently received the full briefing on his identification.
The former U.S. Army private was accounted for in July 2023, but his family just recently received the full briefing on his identification.
A World War II veteran from New Mexico who died as a prisoner of war was identified in July. The announcement was made on Friday, May 31.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Manuel Trujillo, 22, of Santa Fe, was captured and killed by Japanese forces. The capture happened after U.S. forces surrendered at Bataan on April 9, 1942.
The reason for the delayed announcement was due to the full briefing on his identification only recently being received by his family.
Trujillo was captured, and he and other prisoners of war were forced to do the 65-mile Bataan death march. Those surviving men were then held at the Cabanatuan prisoners of war camp.
After the world war, human remains were relocated to a temporary location by the American Graves Registration Service. Three sets of remains were able to be identified by AGRS.
The rest of the remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as unknowns. Those unidentified remains were sent decades later to the DPAA laboratory for analysis in 2018.
Historical records show Trujillo died on July 26, 1942. He is set to be buried in Santa Fe on Friday, July 26.