A Dover-Foxcroft soldier who died in World War II will return to Maine to be buried, after his remains were identified last fall.
U.S. Army Pvt. Willard D. Merrill was a member of the 2nd Observation Squadron, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December of 1941, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Merrill was among thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members who were captured after forces surrendered in the spring of 1942.
They were subjected to the infamous 65-mile Bataan Death March and were held as prisoners of war. At the camp where Merrill was held, more than 2,500 prisoners died and were buried in the camp cemetery, including Merrill.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Service exhumed the remains and relocated them to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila, but for decades Merrill was among those not identified.
Then, in 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the remains for analysis, leading to Merrill's identification last year. His family received a full briefing on his identification, and he will be buried in Dover-Foxcroft in June.
