Gov. Beshear Recognizes Sacrifice of Kentucky Soldier Who Died as Japanese Prisoner of War in World War II

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 6, 2023) - Gov. Andy Beshear recognizes the sacrifice of a Kentucky soldier who died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in the Philippine Islands in 1942 but whose remains were not identified until this summer.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Tuesday that U.S. Army Pfc. Thomas Franklin Brooks, 23, of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for June 20, 2023.

"It is heartbreaking to learn about this loss, but we are thankful for those doing the work to finally identify so many of the unknown casualties of war," said Gov. Beshear. "We are grateful to bring Pfc. Frank Brooks home where he belongs."

Brooks was a member of the Company D, 194th Tank Battalion, U.S. Army Forces Far East, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Brooks was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Brooks died Dec. 10, 1942, and was buried with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 917.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Five sets of remains from Common Grave 917 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 917 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Brooks'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 analysis.

Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Brooks's grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Brooks will be buried Oct. 1, 2023, in Mammoth Cave. Gov. Beshear will order flags lowered to half-staff in honor of Pfc. Thomas Franklin Brooks on the day of interment.

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