Illinois soldier who lost his life as a prisoner of war in WWII officially accounted for

CHICAGO - A U.S. Army Private from Illinois, who was captured and lost his life as a prisoner of war during World War II, has officially been accounted for.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) confirmed the identification of U.S. Army Private 1st Class Harry Jerele Thursday morning.

The 26-year-old was born in Berkeley, Illinois, and served with the 192nd Tank Battalion, U.S. Army in 1942 when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands.

Following intense combat, the Bataan peninsula surrendered on April 9, 1942, and Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Jerele was among thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members who were captured and interned at POW camps. He was reported captured during the surrender of U.S. forces in Bataan to the Japanese and endured the 65-mile Bataan Death March before being held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs lost their lives in this camp during the war, the DPAA said.

Records from the prison camp indicate that Jerele passed away on Dec. 28, 1942, and was laid to rest alongside fellow prisoners in Common Grave 804 at the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery.

Following the war, efforts were made to recover and identify the remains of those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery.

In 1947, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) examined the remains from Common Grave 804, identifying two sets but declaring two others, including Jerele's, unidentifiable. These unidentified remains were interred at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.

In early 2020, the remains linked to Common Grave 804 were exhumed and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis. Jerele's remains were identified through anthropological and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis by DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.

Despite being interred as an Unknown at MACM, Pfc. Jerele's grave received meticulous care over the past seven decades by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

Pfc. Jerele will be laid to rest in Elwood, Illinois, on Oct. 6, 2024.