Pfc. Charles S. Lanier (Courtesy of McCommons Funeral Home obituary)
WHITE PLAINS, Ga. - A Georgia soldier who died as a prisoner of war during World War II is finally returning home for burial with full military honors after scientists identified his remains.
What we know:
Military scientists with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency confirmed they identified the remains of U.S. Army Pfc. Charles S. Lanier on April 28.
Lanier originally entered military service from Georgia and served in the Philippines with Company I of the 31st Infantry Regiment.
Enemy forces captured Lanier following the American surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, and forced him to endure the Bataan Death March.
He was held at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died on Oct. 28, 1942.
The backstory:
Cabanatuan held roughly 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured during and after the fall of Bataan.
Extremely limited food and drinking water sparked widespread malnutrition along with deadly outbreaks of malaria and dysentery.
About 2,800 Americans died at the camp before its liberation in early 1945. Lanier was initially buried alongside fellow American prisoners at the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery.
Dig deeper:
American Graves Registration Service workers later exhumed the camp cemetery and moved remains to a temporary military mausoleum near Manila.
Officials designated Common Grave 713 for service members who died on Oct. 28, 1942, but could only identify two people then.
Unidentified remains from Common Grave 713 were buried as unknowns at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial until researchers disinterred them in 2019.
Scientists matched Lanier through laboratory analysis and circumstantial evidence, resolving a case commemorated on the Manila American Cemetery Walls of the Missing.
What's next:
Graveside funeral services with full military honors will take place on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 2 p.m. at Centennial Christian Church Cemetery, 4828 Centennial Road in White Plains, Ga. 30678.
The Rev. Alec Ward will officiate the ceremony.
Members of the public are invited to attend the service, welcome Lanier home and honor his sacrifice.
What we don't know:
Officials have not released how many family members survive Lanier in Georgia.
Agency personnel have also not specified how many total service members from Common Grave 713 remain unidentified.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which announced the formal identification of remains, as well as funeral details from church and military service coordinators.