A U.S. Army Soldier from Grand Rapids who was killed in World War II has been accounted for, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
According to the DPAA, Pfc. Willard H. Brinks, 24, of Grand Rapids, was accounted for on July 20, 2022. His family only recently received their full briefing on his ID, which is why it's being announced now.
Brinks was assigned the Company K, 3rd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, deployed in present-day Papua New Guinea in November 1942.
His unit attempted to flank enemy defensive lines in northern Papua as part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat to Port Moresby.
The DPAA said Brinks was reported killed in action on Nov. 22, the first day of the Allied attack.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Service conducted searches of battle areas and crash sites, and concluded their search in late 1948. A number of remains were found in the area where Brinks was killed but none could be positively identified, and he was declared non-recoverable on Sept. 7, 1949.
The remains were interred as unknowns at Fort McKinley Cemetery, now Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, in the Philippines.
According to the DPAA, the remains were disinterred in November 2016 and set to a lab in Nebraska for analysis.
To identify Brinks' remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Sciences also used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Brinks will now be buried in Grand Rapids on May 19, 2023.
