Oklahoma soldier killed during World War II identified

© Provided by KFOR-TV Oklahoma City Oklahoma soldier killed during World War II identified

DURANT, Okla. (KFOR) – An Oklahoma soldier who was killed during World War II has finally been accounted for.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Monday that U.S. Army Air Force Cpl. Charles W. Eeds was accounted for on Oct. 25, 2022.

The 23-year-old from Durant was a member of the 48th Materiel Squadron in 1941 when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps.

Eeds was among those captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. Officials say they were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp.

More than 2,500 POWs died in the camp during the war.

According to prison camp records, Eeds died on July 19, 1942 and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in a local cemetery.

Following the war, American Graves Registration Service personnel exhumed remains at the cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum.

Eeds’ remains were identified after DNA analysis.

Officials say Eeds will be buried on May 19, 2023 in Norman.

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