Remains Of World War II Airman From Massachusetts Identified 82 Years

CBS Boston

November 14, 2024

The remains of a Massachusetts airman who died as a prisoner of war during World War II have been accounted for, military officials said Wednesday.

U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. 1st Class Bernard J. Calvi, 23, was a member of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group when Japanese forces invaded the Philippines in December 1941, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release. Intense fighting ensued and continued until the surrender of Bataan peninsula and Corregidor Island in the spring of 1942.

During that period, thousands of American and Filipino service members were captured and held at prisoner of war camps, the DPAA said. Calvi was among those reported captured when forces in Bataan surrendered. He, and thousands of others, were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at a prisoner of war camp where 2,500 prisoners died during the course of the war.

U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. 1st Class Bernard J. Calvi, 23/Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency/CBS Boston

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