WW2 Army Major identified 80 years after death, burial
By Kaleb Clark
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EAGLE POINT, Oregon (KDRV) — A World War II U.S. Army Major’s remains have been accounted for after he was reported dead 80 years ago.
On Jan. 9, 1945, U.S. Army Major Harry C. Hoffmeyer, 51, of St. Louis, was killed after being held prisoner of war (POW) on the Enoura Maru, a ship that was en route to Taiwan. He perished after U.S. forces attacked and sunk the ship, unaware that POW’s were aboard.
Before this death, Maj. Hoffmeyer, who was still a POW, survived another U.S. attack while aboard the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay.
Between October 2022 and July 2023, the Defense POW Accounting Agency (DPAA) disinterred unknowns from the Punchbowl, a cemetery in Honolulu, that were linked to Enoura Maru. The remains were then accessioned into the DPAA Lab for further analyzing.
Scientists utilized circumstantial evidence, anthropological and dental analysis to identify Hoffmeyer’s remains. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System was also utilized by scientists, using mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA analysis.
Now, Hoffmeyer’s name, which is displayed on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, will receive a rosette, indicating he has been accounted for.
U.S. Army Major, Harry C. Hoffmeyer will be buried at the Eagle Point National Cemetery in Eagle Point, Oregon, on Oct. 24, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.
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