Military servicemen identified March 2024

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Benak, F.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that U.S. Army Cpl. Frank V. Benak, 24, of Scottsville, Michigan, killed during World War II, was accounted for on February 2, 2024.

In December 1942, Benak was assigned to Cannon Company, 128th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. As part of an attempt to neutralize the Japanese threat near the town of Buna, Benak’s unit attacked enemy defensive positions in northern Papua. Benak was reported as missing in action on Dec. 5, while on a combat patrol near Buna Creek.

The unidentified remains from Papua New Guinea were eventually interred as Unknowns at Fort McKinley Cemetery, now Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines.

DPAA predecessor organizations began researching and recovering service members from Papua New Guinea in 1995. In May 2012, Australian Defence Force personnel looking for unresolved casualties near Buna, observed an identification tag (“dog tag”) belonging to Cpl. Benak in the possession of a village leader at Buna. Years of investigation led to the disinterment of a set of remains from Manila American Cemetery, X-168 Finschhafen #2 in January 2017. The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis.

To identify Benak’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Benak’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Cpl. Benak will be buried on April 13, 2024, in Miami, Florida.

Soldier Accounted for from Korean War (Lilly, R.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that U.S. Army Corporal Ray K. Lilly, 18, of Matoaka, West Virginia, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Sep. 26, 2023.

In Nov. 1950, Lilly was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He went missing in action after his unit engaged in defensive actions in the vicinity of Unsan, North Korea, November 2, 1950. After Operation Big Switch, several returning prisoners of War (POWs), reported seeing Cpl. Lilly at POW Camp #5. It was later determined that Lilly died in captivity in January or February 1951.

In the fall of 1953, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-14682. Those remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be positivity identified as Cpl. Lilly. Those unidentified remains were subsequently buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In 2019 DPAA disinterred Unknown X-14682 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Lilly’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Lilly’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.