World War II POW from upstate New York identified more than 80 years after his death

The remains of a soldier from upstate New York who died in World War II have been identified more than 80 years after his death. 

Private Harland Hennessey, an American soldier killed in a prisoner of war camp during World War II, will finally be buried in his hometown in upstate New York.

Hennessey grew up in Boonville, about an hour northeast of Syracuse. He joined the Army in 1941 and was later sent to the Philippines with the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation. When Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in 1942, Hennessey was one of the thousands of Americans and Filipinos who were captured. According to prison camp records, he died on November 1, 1942, and was buried in the camp cemetery. He was 24 years old.

According to a local newspaper, his parents weren't officially notified of his death until July 10, 1943. The local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post in Boonville was named after Hennessey. His name was later added to a World War II memorial wall in town.

After the war, American investigators exhumed those buried at the camp cemetery and moved the remains to a U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. Hennessey's remains were among those that were marked as unidentified, and they were buried at the Manila American Cemetery.

They stayed there until 2018, when the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the remains. The agency began the long process of identifying them through several methods, including DNA and dental and anthropological analysis.

Private Hennessey's remains were officially identified on September 23, 2024, nearly 82 years after his death.

The military formally announced on Tuesday that Hennessey's family recently received their full briefing on his identification.

Hennessey will be buried in Boonville in July. For funeral information, you can call the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.