Lost in 1942, WWII Soldier’s Remains Return to Virginia for Final Rest

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Pfc. Claude A. Dewberry, 29, killed during World War II, will be interred July 25 at New Prospect Baptist Church Cemetery in Hurt, Virginia. Services and interment are being coordinated by Finch & Finch Funeral and Cremation Service.

In 1942, Dewberry was assigned to Medical Detachment, 194th Tank Battalion on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines. He was captured on April 9 and held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines until 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport shipOryoku Maru.

Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked theOryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay. Dewberry was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard theEnoura Maru. The Japanese reported that Dewberry died on Jan. 9, 1945, when U.S. forces attacked and sank theEnoura Maru.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency accounted for Dewberry on June 11, 2025.

For more information on DPAA’s efforts to locate and identify Dewberry, please visit: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4254858/soldier-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-dewberry-c/

U.S. Army Human Resources Command’s Past Conflict Repatriations Branch plays a vital role in the process of identifying, locating and contacting subsequent generation family members of Soldiers missing or killed in action during WWII and the Korean War to positively identify previously undiscovered or unknown remains.

Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact Finch & Finch Funeral and Cremation Service at 434-369-5621.