I have the privilege of joining community members in Boonville, New York, in welcoming World War II Army Pvt. Harland J. Hennessey back home. Pvt. Hennessey was one of 10 men buried in a mass grave known as Common Grave 704 after succumbing to disease and malnutrition in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in 1942.

For more than 80 years, Hennessey’s family wondered if his remains would ever be identified and returned home. In that time, Harland J. Hennessey VFW Post 5538 was named in his honor, and his family and community remembered his service and sacrifice. Decades later, in 2018, two out of the 10 men buried in Common Grave 704 were finally identified through the use of sophisticated forensic analysis—one of those men was Pvt. Hennessey.

It is thanks to the combined efforts of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the Army, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, the American Graves Registration Service and the American Battle Monuments Commission that Pvt. Hennessey’s remains were preserved, identified and delivered home after more than 80 years.

Ultimately, it was the DPAA that led the charge, accounted for Pvt. Hennessey on Sept. 23, 2024, and made the announcement that Pvt. Hennessey was finally accounted for on April 15, 2025.

While the DPAA was officially established in 2015, its mission and legacy date back more than 50 years. The DPAA’s mission: to recover and identify military service members still unaccounted for as prisoners of war or missing in action. In the 2024 fiscal year alone, the DPAA identified and recovered the remains of 172 service members.

To identify the remains of fallen heroes and bring them home, the DPAA has developed a multi-faceted approach that includes research and investigation into the circumstances surrounding a service member who is unaccounted for, state-of-the-art forensic analysis to compare unknown DNA profiles with existing family members’ DNA profiles and identification and repatriation to make an accurate DNA match, recover the remains and return them to family members or next of kin.

Despite these sophisticated and ever-improving efforts, there remain about 81,000 service members from the U.S.’s past conflicts still unaccounted for, leaving 81,000 families still searching for answers.

For those killed on active duty, it means the world to their families and loved ones to have their remains retrieved and returned home. It is critical we recognize and support the efforts of agencies like the DPAA and others to bring much-needed peace and closure to the families of our fallen heroes.

My heart goes out to the family of Pvt. Hennessey—it is my hope they have found peace in knowing he is finally coming home after more than eight decades of mystery. To Pvt. Harland J. Hennessey and all our other courageous military service members who never made it home: We thank you for your service and sacrifice to our great nation.

For additional information about the DPAA and helpful resources for families of lost military service members, visit the DPAA website or on social media.