WWII Air Force prisoner of war’s remains identified after 81 years

The remains of a US Army airman were identified 81 years after he died in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, officials announced Friday.

Staff Sgt. Alvin R. Scarborough, of Dossville, Mississippi, was just 22 years old when he served as a member of the 454th Ordnance Company in the Philippine Islands following the Japanese invasion of December 1942 — sparking months of intense fighting.

It’s unclear when he was captured by the enemy, but Scarborough was recorded as one of thousands of American and Filipino service members imprisoned when the Allies surrender the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942. The surrender of the Corregidor Island followed on May 6, 1942.

That very day, Japan forced Scarborough and 78,000 prisoners — 12,000 of which were from the US — to make the 65-mile Bataan death march along the mountainous coast toward the Cabanatuan POW camp, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

Only 54,000 prisoners reached the camp, according to Army archives.

More than 2,500 POWs perished at Cabanatuan POW camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Scarborough died July 28, 1942. He was buried with other prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 215.

Scarborough’s body was exhumed by the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) in 1947, but he, like thousands of others, remained unidentified for decades to come — only five sets of remains in 215 were identified at the time.

He was buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknown until 2018.

The unidentified remains of Common Grave 215 were sent to the DPAA laboratory, where scientists used DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence to finally identify the POWs.

After eight decades, Scarborough’s body was finally accounted for on Sept. 21, 2023, the DPAA said.

The hero’s body will be returned to his home in Mississippi for a proper burial at a date yet to be determined.