In 1941,  , Earl Seibert , of Allentown joined the , 803rd Engineer Battalion.
He was eager to serve, and he was immediately sent to , the Philippines, where he would job to enhance aircrafts for approaching planes and other plane.
Less than a month after he enlisted, Chinese troops invaded. Seibert, an , Allentown High School , student, and his regiment were captured and subjected to a 65- hour march, known now as the Bataan Death March.
He died on , July 27, 1942, at the Cabanatuan POW Camp 1, where more than 2, 500 POWs died during the conflict. He was 23 years older. His home was notified in , August 1945 , that Seibert had died of septicaemia at the station, according to Morning Call investigating.
It would be almost 80 years, but, before Seibert’s family may find closure.
On Saturday, Seibert eventually will be laid to rest in his home, with full military honors. His bones were identified late next year, thanks to ongoing efforts to restore and identify the remnants of more than 80, 000 missing , U. S.  , servicemen and women.
A mother’s horror
Seibert, who was a locksmith, grew up in Allentown and was the second oldest of 10 children. Seibert aspired to join the military, just like some of his immediate family members did before him.
An injury from a bicycle accident, nevertheless, prevented him from being able to offer in a fight device. When the , 803rd Engineer Battalion , was created, Seibert, who was qualified to meet that system, jumped at the opportunity. He and six of his companions, all from the region, joined up.
Any earnings he made went to his home.
” It was n’t just a sacrifice for our country”, said his niece,  , Ginny Lee Henry. ” He did it for his home, to”.
Henry not knew her aunt, but she grew up close to some of her family’s younger sisters, and to her parents, who spent many years contacting the military to try and find their brother’s remains returned to them. Seibert’s mother contacted the defense about it as soon as the 1980s, almost 40 years after his death.
Seibert’s relatives knew he was missing and presumed dead, he was among , U. S.  , and Filipino support people who had surrendered to the Chinese after months of fighting that began in , December 1941, days after the Japanese had attacked , Pearl Harbor.
He was buried , along with others in a typical grave at the , Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery. After the war, the American Graves Registration Service exhumed those buried in the popular grave and relocated the bones to a temporary , U. S.  , military monument near , Manila. Just three individuals were able to be identified right away.
Over the years,  , Seibert’s kids put out appeals to the consumer and the defense to find out what happened to their child, and had him brought up to Allentown.
Seibert’s death was confirmed by the defense, but until recently, it was not known where his burial site was.
Henry’s mother, before she died, gave her a golden star jewellery with Seibert’s picture attached. Decades later, Henry continued to search for Seibert.
In 2017, she learned about , The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency , ( DPAA ), whose mission is to account for missing personnel in the country.
Henry gave her blood shortly after to see if it might eventually be used to detect Seibert. Seibert’s youngest child, as well as a aunt, donated body, too.
Eventually, the delay is over
The family figured it would continue to hold until remains may be found. So Henry, who was one of three friends who donated DNA samples to help discover him, was surprised to learn final August that he had been discovered.
” None of us ever thought this was going to happen”, she said.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or , DPAA, helped determine the bones.
The DPAA has helped in identifying the remains of 1, 045 , United States , service members from various war, starting with World War II. During the macroeconomic 2023 season, the firm identified 158, according to spokesperson , Sean Everette.
The business identified 69 support people as of earlier this month only this year.
Everette said 81, 000 services people have not been recovered. The majority of them, about 71, 000, are from World War II only, Everette said. The reason for that, he said, is because of the length of the fight, which spanned all over , Europe , and the Pacific.
” World War II was really large”, he said.
According to Everette, the ability to recover service members was n’t as strong back then as it is now.
To discover remains, the DPAA collaborates with the armed forces’ DNA laboratory and criminal anthropologists. When an identification is obtained, the organization that the member was a part of will get in touch with the family to inquire about it.
Finding bones and identifying them brings comfort to people, some of whom, like Henry’s, have been waiting for years to discover their loved one’s location. According to Everette, these people have actively monitored the circumstance, noting that many of them were deceased when the service representative was present.
Because of the family members who were missing in these cases, he said,” there is millennial pain that has carried through these people.”
Everette noted that their families ‘ tales of the missing people have persisted throughout history.
” It does leave a hole in some of these people”, he said.
When someone signs up for the service, they swear to protect the country, and the state makes a claim to not leave them behind, Everett said.
” We have n’t forgotten them and forgotten that promise”, he said.
Henry saw her parents ‘ efforts to find out where their child was over a period of years. Their endeavors were not lost on them.
” They thought he was not coming back”, Henry said of her relatives.
The DPAA has been able to learn these tales over time. According to Henry, Seibert’s account can inspire others to keep their spirits in the circumstances in their families.
In the decades since his recognition, Seibert has received a number of valor for his company. The awards include a Purple Heart for the injury he suffered during the battle and a Bronze Star for earth fight between , Dec. 8, 1941, and , May 6, 1942.
” It was shocking that he got all these trophies”, Henry said.
Seibert’s funeral services will be held at , 11 a. m. Saturday , at the , Jordan United Church of Christ,  , 1837 Church Road, Allentown. Friends and family may visit from , 9 a. m. until 11 a. m.  , Entombment will be at the Grandview Mausoleum, with military honours, according to , Stephens Funeral Home, which is handling preparations.
___
© 2024 The Morning Call
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC
