U.S. Airman Accounted for 81 Years After Death as POW

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Friday that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Alvin R. Scarborough, who died as a prisoner of war (POW) during World War II, has been accounted for 81 years after his death. Scarborough, 22, from Dossville, Mississippi, was captured following the surrender of American and Filipino forces in the Philippines after months of intense fighting against Japanese troops. Scarborough was among the thousands of soldiers who endured the infamous Bataan Death March, a grueling 65-mile trek forced upon approximately 78,000 prisoners, including 12,000 Americans and 66,000 Filipinos. Only about 54,000 of these prisoners reached the designated camps. Scarborough was subsequently held at the Cabanatuan POW camp, where over 2,500 prisoners died due to harsh conditions, although the situation was somewhat better than at the notorious Camp O'Donnell. Scarborough died on July 28, 1942, and was buried in Common Grave 215 at the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery. After the war, his remains were relocated to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 2018, remains from Common Grave 215 were sent to DPAA labs for analysis. Using anthropological methods and mitochondrial DNA, researchers confirmed Scarborough's identity on September 21, 2023. The DPAA has announced that Scarborough will be laid to rest in Carthage, Mississippi, with the date yet to be determined.