Young soldier from Boston missing in action in World War II finally identified after 79 years
BOSTON - A young soldier from Boston who had been missing in action in World War II for 79 years has been identified.
Army Pvt. Wing O. Hom went missing in action while fighting Nazi forces near the town of Cisterna di Latina, Italy on February 2, 1944. He was just 20 years old.
According to the U.S. government, his body was never found and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. The War Department declared him dead on Feb. 3, 1945. A year later, remains found just outside of the Italian town were thought be linked to Hom. They were buried at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuna, Italy in 1948.
The remains were then moved in September 2021 and sent to a lab at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for identification. Scientists used mitochondrial DNA analysis and anthropological analysis to make a positive match. Hom was formally accounted for on April 6, 2023.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) made the announcement Tuesday, saying they had waited to give his family a full briefing first.
The DPAA said Hom will be buried in Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 11, 2023.