NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev -- The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) recently announced the identification of the remains of three World War II members of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, currently the 57th Wing’s 17th Weapons Squadron. U.S. Army Air Force Pvt. Bernard J. Curran of Lowell, Mass., Pfc. Bernard J. Calvi of North Adams, Mass., and Sgt James W. Swartz of Webberville, Mich. served with the squadron’s ground echelon. The air echelon operated the P-40 Warhawk aircraft, flying missions in the Philippine Islands.
In December 1941, Japanese forces invaded the islands. The ground echelon, pressed into service as an infantry, taking part in intense fighting on the Bataan peninsula. They surrendered on April 9, 1942, and Curran, Calvi, and Swartz were among the thousands captured. After surviving the 65-mile Bataan Death March, they were placed in the notorious Cabanatuan POW camp. Conditions at the camp were inadequate, including deficient food and water which ended up leading to malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. With More than 2,500 perished at the camp during the war, including Calvi, age 23, on July 16, 1942, Swartz, age 21, on September 23, 1942, and Curran, age 20, on November 24, 1942. They were buried with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in common graves.
At the end of the war, members of the American Graves Registration Service exhumed those buried there, taking the remains to a temporary U.S. military facility near Manila. In 1947, the Service attempted to identify the remains. Those unidentified, including Calvi, Swartz, and Curran, were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as unknowns. The American Battle Monuments Commission cared for the graves for several decades.
In 2018 and 2019, following disinterment, DPAA members examined the unidentified remains. Members eventually recognized remains of Calvi, Swartz, and Curran using a combination of dental, anthropological, circumstantial evidence and DNA analysis from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.
Curran will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on a date to be determined. Both Calvi and Swartz will be buried in their hometowns, Calvi on December 9, 2024 and Swartz in April 2025.