Missouri soldier killed in WWII to be buried at Arlington

CASSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Burial will be Sept. 13 for a Missouri soldier killed during World War II, but whose remains went unidentified for nearly eight decades.

Army Sgt. John V. Phillips of Cassville, Missouri, will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The U.S. Army said in a news release that Phillips was a member of Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941.

Phillips was among thousands of service members captured. He was held captive at the Cabanatuan POW camp. Prison camp and other historical records indicate that he died July 27, 1942 and was buried in a common grave with other prisoners. The Army said more than 2,500 prisoners of war died at the Cabanatuan camp.

After the war, remains were exhumed, but many went unidentified. In December 2019, an analysis that used DNA and other evidence was able to identify Phillips.