Young solider from Boston missing in action in World War II finally identified after 79 years
By Web staff
Click here for updates on this story
BOSTON (WBZ) — A young solider from Boston who had been missing in action in World War II for 79 years has been identified.
Army Pvt. Wing O. Hom went missing in action while fighting Nazi forces near the town of Cisterna di Latina, Italy on February 2, 1944. He was just 20 years old.
According to the U.S. government, his body was never found and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. The War Department declared him dead on Feb. 3, 1945. A year later, remains found just outside of the Italian town were thought be linked to Hom. They were buried at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuna, Italy in 1948.
The remains were then moved in September 2021 and sent to a lab at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for identification. Scientists used mitochondrial DNA analysis and anthropological analysis to make a positive match. Hom was formally accounted for on April 6, 2023.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) made the announcement Tuesday, saying they had waited to give his family a full briefing first.
The DPAA said Hom will be buried in Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 11, 2023.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
