PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The remains of a recently identified World War II soldier from Oregon who was missing for over 80 years have been brought back home.
U.S. Army Pvt. William E Calkins was captured by Japanese forces and died in a prisoner of war camp in the Philippines in November 1942 at the age of 20 after surviving the Bataan Death March earlier that year, the Department of Defense said last month.
His remains were identified earlier this year after being exhumed along with other unknown soldiers buried at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
On Friday, Calkins’ remains were brought home to his Oregon relatives with planeside honors at the Portland International Airport, the Oregon Military Department said.
The effort to identify the remains of the unknown soldiers associated with Common Grave 704 began in 2018 when the Department of Defense’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency sent them to a lab for DNA testing.
Immediately after the war, the remains were exhumed from the camp, along with the other unknown soldiers, and stored at the Manila American Cemetary at the Philippine capital as “unknown.” A rosette will be placed next to his name at the cemetery’s Walls of the Missing.
Calkins will be laid to rest on Sept. 13 at noon at Fir Lawn Memorial Park in Hillsboro with a Color Guard Ceremony. There will be a missing man flyover led by EAA Chapter 105 pilot Steve Payne. Also flying in the formation will be Cliff Gerber, and brothers David and Duane Pizzo. The planes flying the formation are from Vans Aircraft where U.S. Army Pvt. William E Calkins’ stepbrother, John Calkins worked for many years.
The remains of World War II U.S. Army Pvt. William E. Calkins were brought home to his Oregon relatives with planeside honors Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Portland International Airport. (Oregon National Guard Photos by Aaron Perkins, Oregon Military Department Public Affairs)
