The remains of a World War II service member who died in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in the Philippines in 1942 have been returned home to California. U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. 1st Class Charles R. Powers, 18, of Riverside, was the long-unidentified soldier whose remains were flown to Ontario International Airport for burial at Riverside National Cemetery on Thursday, 82 years to the day of his death.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency confirmed in June that Powers was accounted for on May 26, 2023, following the analysis of his remains, which included the use of DNA. Powers, a member of the 28th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, was captured during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in late 1941. He was part of the surrender of U.S. and Filipino forces on the Bataan peninsula in April 1942 and Corregidor Island the following month.
