Remains of Ohio soldier, who died as WWII POW, found and being brought home
ELMORE, Ohio (WJW) — A northern Ohio man who died as a prisoner of war while fighting in WWII is finally being laid to rest in his hometown this summer, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said Friday.
Remains of Soldier killed in WWII return to Freeport, Ohio and interred with full military honors
U.S. Army Sgt. Howard Hasselkus, who was 24 years old at the time of his death, was reportedly accounted for in September 2024 but it was only recently that his family received a 'full briefing' from the government agency. Now his story is being released to the public.
When Japanese forces invaded the Philippines in late 1941, Hasselkus was fighting with the 192nd Tank Battalion. By May of 1942, thousands of U.S. and Filipino military members were taken as prisoners of war following the surrender of Bataan, with Hasselkus being one of them.
Hasselkus died Nov. 22, 1942, and was buried at Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in a common grave, according to camp records, the DPAA said.
The American Graves Registration Service diligently worked to identify soldiers remains following the war, but Hasselkus was never found.
4 finally going home after WWII bomber crash left 11 dead and 'non-recoverable'
Then in 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA scientists began looking into the remains still unidentified. Using anthropological, dental and DNA analysis, the team was able to find Hasselkus.
'Today, Hasselkus is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines,' the agency said in a statement. 'A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.'
Hasselkus is being buried in Elmore, Ohio, in August.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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National Geographic
34 minutes ago
- National Geographic
What everyone gets wrong about the deadliest shark attack in history
HISTORY & CULTURE SHARKFEST The sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis is widely known as a shark story—but the truth is much more horrifying. The U.S.S. Indianapolis at port in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa 1937. The sinking of the warship is considered one of the worst tragedies in U.S. Naval history: 879 men lost their lives while the survivors suffered for four days and five nights until they were rescued. Photograph By Navy History and Heritage Command "The shark comes to the nearest man and that man he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away." Robert Shaw's iconic monologue as shark hunter Quint in Jaws captured the horror of the day 80 years ago when sharks descended on the crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis after the vessel was sunk by Japanese torpedoes during World War II. Thanks to the fame of the movie, that speech propelled the worst shark attack in history into public lore. (Martha's Vineyard locals reflect on the legacy of 'Jaws' 50 years later.) But his speech had some critical errors. Many retellings focus on the sharks mercilessly picking off the survivors, but the terror of that day in July 1945 was 'much more than just a shark story,' says Lynn Vincent, author of Indianapolis. It's a story of hundreds of men—some just 17 years old—who set off a great adventure and changed the face of history before experiencing unimaginable horrors, adds her co-author Sara Vladic. The sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis is considered one of the worst tragedies in U.S. Naval history. What really happened? This is the true story of the disaster of the Indianapolis. The U.S.S. Indianapolis sets sail on a top-secret mission The U.S.S. Tranquility lands in Guam carrying the survivors of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. Only 316 of the 1,195 crew members aboard the ship survived after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Photograph By National Archives The U.S.S. Indianapolis was hit by torpedoes just after it had completed a top-secret mission: delivering components of the atomic bomb that the U.S. would later use on Hiroshima during World War II. Photograph By National Archives The Indianapolis—affectionately known as the Indy—was already well-known by the time she met her gruesome demise. She had 10 battle stars and was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's ship of state. In March 1945, a few months earlier, the Indianapolis had been hit by a Japanese suicide pilot, or kamikaze, in Okinawa and was sent back to California for repairs. 'The Japanese plane not only hit her, but sent a bomb through her, literally through her,' says Paridon. 'It exploded underneath her keel.' By the time she was mended, the U.S. Navy needed a ship to transport components of the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima to Tinian, a U.S.-controlled island south of Japan. 'That's why she's available… because she had taken that hit,' says Paridon. 'It's a twist of fate, really it is.' (Wreckage of WWII-era warship U.S.S. Indianapolis found after 72 years.) The Indy was loaded up with the priceless cargo and set out on her crucial journey on July 16. The mission was 'uber, uber, uber secret,' says Paridon. 'The sailors on board that ship had no earthly [idea] what they were carrying. Capt. Charles Butler McVay had an inkling. He was told 'every day you save on your transit is one less day we're gonna have to fight this war,' says Paridon. After racing to Tinian under radio silence, the Indy delivered the bomb on July 26 and the top-secret mission was over. But her hardships were about to begin. The U.S.S. Indianapolis at New York City about a decade before it was sunk by a Japanese submarine. The maritime disaster was made famous by Captain Quint's monologue in the movie Jaws. In terms of lives lost, it was the U.S. Navy's second worst catastrophe in history, trailing only the attack on Pearl Harbor. Photograph By Naval History and Heritage Command The U.S.S. Indianapolis was leaving Guam in the early hours of July 30 when a Japanese submarine spotted the ship glinting in the moonlight. Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto ordered his crew to fire and two torpedoes struck the ship. 'These are big kabooms, to put it very, very bluntly,' says Paridon. That was the first catastrophe. Many men were 'there one minute, literally gone the next,' he says. Others were hit by shrapnel and burned by hot metal as they tried to escape. The Indy sank in just 12 minutes. Those who found themselves in the water—concussed, burned, wounded, and covered in oil from the wreckage—were about to face a nightmare lasting five nights and four days. Joseph A. Jacouemot and Richard P. Thelen, two survivors of the U.S.S. Indianpolis, are shown in a hospital in the Philippines shortly after their rescue in August 1945. Hundreds of men struggled for five days to survive dehydration, hypothermia, shark attacks, and madness while floating in the South Pacific. Photograph By National Archives Likely attracted by the commotion and bodies in the water, sharks—likely oceanic whitetips and tiger sharks—started to arrive soon after the ship sank. Stories tell of over 150 men being killed by sharks in a feeding frenzy. But even though we don't know exact figures, the event is acknowledged as the worst shark attack in history. For context, the total number of unprovoked shark bites globally in all of 2024 was just 47. It's believed the sharks largely fed on corpses and the dying. 'Did they eat some of the corpses? Absolutely. Did they bite some of the survivors? For sure,' says Seth Paridon, a historian and deputy director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum. 'But it wasn't to the degree that the myth makes it out to be.' (How to stay safe if you do find yourself swimming with sharks.) Some barely saw shark activity. In an oral history conducted by the Naval History and Heritage Command, senior medical officer Capt. Lewis Haynes 'saw only one shark' and didn't see anyone get bitten. McVay recalls merely 'getting a little annoyed' with the shark following his group because it was scaring away the fish that could have provided food. Spending days in the water with circling sharks was just one of countless horrors the men experienced. 'The human story is really what is missed amid all the focus on the sharks,' says Vladic, who spent a decade interviewing 107 of the surviving crew and their families. 'The survivors themselves don't appreciate the focus on the sharks, because there were a lot more men died of many more things.' The men had no food or fresh water and were exposed to the burning sun. Some died of their wounds from the explosion while others succumbed to exposure, exhaustion, thirst, violence, and even suicide. Desperately thirsty, some drank seawater, which caused salt poisoning and mass hallucinations. 'It was amazing how everyone would see the same thing,' said Haynes, who recounted in an oral history how a group of men all thought they saw a nearby island where they could get some sleep. 'Even I fought hallucinations off and on, but something always brought me back.' (Sharks aren't really mindless killers. So why are we so afraid of them?) Perhaps the most heartbreaking delusion was that the Indy was just under the surface. Some men tried to reach the galley to find food, 'and they would swim off down to their deaths,' says Vladic. A chance rescue In Jaws, Quint tells Chief Brody and Matt Hooper that the mission was 'so secret, no distress signal had been sent.' This is one of the speech's key errors. 'The mission was long over,' says Vincent. They had no more need for secrecy. The problem was that the distress signals weren't processed properly. No one was searching for survivors. Survivors of U.S.S. Indianapolis being brought ashore from U.S.S. Tranquility at Guam, on August 8, 1945. In this photograph, they are being placed in ambulances for immediate transfer to local hospitals. Photograph By PhoM1/c J.G. Mull., National Archives A landing craft takes a number of injured survivors ashore for hospitalization at Peleliu, an island in the Palau archipelago in Micronesia. The wreckage of the U.S.S. Indianapolis was discovered by chance—their distress signals hadn't been processed properly. Photograph By National Archives Lt. Wilbur Gwinn discovered them by chance during a routine air patrol on the morning of August 2. While fixing a broken antenna on his plane, he happened to look down and spot oil and flotsam in the water. At first, he thought it was an enemy submarine. Then he saw men floating in small groups and sent a message calling for help. In response, Lt. Adrian Marks was sent to help in an amphibious aircraft. Realizing that rescue ships were hours away, he performed an open sea landing—which are against naval regulations because they are so dangerous—and tried to get as many men out of the water and into the plane as possible. He even tied some onto the wings of his plane with parachute cord. Just after midnight on August 3, rescue ships arrived and the men were finally safe. Of the 1,195 men aboard the Indianapolis, 879 lost their lives. Just 316 survived. The final victim of the Indianapolis The Indy had one more victim. Despite the overwhelming support of his surviving crew, Captain McVay was court martialed by the U.S. Navy for negligence in December 1945. Naval vessels are supposed to zigzag in 'submarine-infested waters' to make it harder for torpedoes to hit them, says Paridon, but McVay hadn't done so—because, it turns out, he hadn't been told there were submarines nearby. Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commander of the Fifth Fleet, pins a Purple Heart on Clarence E. McElroy, a survivor of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. Many of the men who survived the disaster never spoke of the trauma they experienced. Photograph By National Archives Hashimoto was even called to testify. He said that nothing McVay did, including zigzagging, would have stopped him sinking that ship, but the captain was still found guilty. The verdict wasn't overturned until 1996. 'The survivors fought for 50 years to have their captain exonerated,' says Vincent. However, McVay, who took his own life on November 6, 1968, didn't live to see his pardon. 'That's the ultimate, final tragedy,' says Paridon. The legacy of the U.S.S. Indianapolis Many survivors never spoke of their trauma. 'They rarely talked about it to anyone, including their families,' says Vladic. 'There are quite a few cases where the children of survivors found out their dad was on the ship after watching Jaws.' The movie brought the ship's story into public awareness but the Indy's real legacy isn't her sinking, or the sharks, but her role in changing the course of World War II. 'These guys accomplished their mission, and they fought together to survive,' says Paridon. Just one living survivor remains: 98-year-old Harold Bray. But, says Vladic, the crew's families are determined 'to keep the story alive long after the last survivor is gone.' Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story premieres on National Geographic starting July 10 and streams on Disney+ and Hulu starting July 11. Check local listings.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
106-year-old WWII veteran shares his secret to long life: ‘You can't beat it'
A WWII veteran celebrating his 106th birthday has revealed the secret to his long life — eating custard every single day. Great-great grandfather Leslie Lemon, from Aylesbury, Bucks., favors Bird's but always has a tin of Ambrosia's ready made in the pantry for emergencies. Advertisement His current favourite treat is rhubarb and custard — but is also partial to trifle and custard — and prefers his sweet treat cold. He celebrated his 106th birthday this week — having been born on July 1, 1919. 9 WWII veteran Leslie Lemon is celebrating his 106th birthday, and credits eating custard as the secret to his long life. James Linsell Clark / SWNS 9 Lemon was born on July 1, 1919. Lemon Family / SWNS Advertisement 9 'The secret to a long life is custard. Rhubarb from the garden and custard,' Lemon said. 'I eat it every day. I prefer it cold. It's nice in a trifle. You can't beat it.' James Linsell Clark / SWNS Lemon, a corporal in WWII, said: 'The secret to a long life is custard. Rhubarb from the garden and custard. 'I eat it every day. I prefer it cold. It's nice in a trifle. You can't beat it. 'I usually have the powder but I've got a ready made Ambrosia in the pantry for emergencies. Advertisement 'You should always have a pudding.' 9 Lemon served as a corporal from 1939 to 1946 throughout WWII. Lemon Family / SWNS 9 The veteran received the Légion d'honneur medal from the French government five years ago. James Linsell Clark / SWNS Lemon has now been retired for longer than he worked — having worked as an 'office boy' for Inland Revenue, now HM Revenue & Customs until he was 60 in 1979. Advertisement He served as a corporal, from 1939 to 1946, throughout WWII and received the Légion d'honneur medal from the French government five years ago. The great-great-grandfather-of-two said, despite turning 106: 'I don't feel older at all. 9 Lemon with a custard ice cream, and members of his family. James Linsell Clark / SWNS 'I've got no aches and pains. I don't take any tablets or medications. I never see a doctor.' Lemon, who has eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, said his second favorite food was fish and fries. He added: 'You can put custard with apples, gooseberries, any fruit from the garden.' For his 100th birthday, he was given his own Bird's custard jug. Advertisement He has received three cards from royalty which sit on his mantle — a letter from Queen Elizabeth II on his 100th birthday and two from King Charles and Camilla for his 105th and 106th birthdays. As for his advice for growing older, Lemon, originally from Ealing, London, said: 'Everything in moderation. 'I'm so lucky and I'm quite happy. 'The thing that has changed the most is video calls. I can't work it myself. I'm a bit old fashioned.' Advertisement Lemon married his wife Doreen in 1944 and remained together until her death in 1999. They had three children — Michael, Mary and Richard — but Mary sadly died from hepatitis caused by polluted seawater when she was ten. Youngest son Richard, 73, said: 'When we were growing up, we always had fresh fruit and veg — no one froze things in the 50s. 'Dad is a believer in that you should always have pudding and he's had custard as long as I can remember.' Advertisement 9 Lemon married his wife Doreen in 1944. Lemon Family / SWNS 9 The couple had three children, Michael, Mary and Richard. Lemon Family / SWNS 9 Lemon has been honored with a year's supply of free custard from Asda. James Linsell Clark / SWNS Lemon has also been honored with a year's supply of free custard from Asda. Advertisement An Asda spokesperson said: 'We'll all be taking a leaf out of Mr Lemon's book and enjoying more custard going forward, we hope he enjoys a free year's supply on us. 'When life gives you lemons add custard!' Lemon's family said: 'He's absolutely delighted. He'll probably put it all under his bed.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
106-year-old puts his long life down to eating one thing every day
A WWII veteran celebrating his 106th birthday has revealed the secret to his long life - eating custard every single day. Great-great grandfather Leslie Lemon, from Aylesbury, Bucks., favours Bird's but always has a tin of Ambrosia's ready made in the pantry for emergencies. His current favourite treat is rhubarb and custard - but is also partial to trifle and custard - and prefers his sweet treat cold. He celebrated his 106th birthday this week - having been born on July 1, 1919. Mr Lemon, a corporal in WWII, said: "The secret to a long life is custard. Rhubarb from the garden and custard. "I eat it every day. I prefer it cold. It's nice in a trifle. You can't beat it. I usually have the powder but I've got a ready made Ambrosia in the pantry for emergencies. You should always have a pudding." READ MORE: Diogo Jota's wife and recent wedding as Liverpool forward dies in tragic accident days after tying the knot READ MORE: Disgraced Cold War veteran 89, may die in prison after he is unmasked as paedophile Mr Lemon has now been retired for longer than he worked - having worked as an 'office boy' for Inland Revenue, now HM Revenue & Customs until he was 60 in 1979. He served as a corporal, from 1939 to 1946, throughout WWII and received the Légion d'honneur medal from the French government five years ago. The great-great-grandfather-of-two said, despite turning 106: "I don't feel older at all. I've got no aches and pains. I don't take any tablets or medications. I never see a doctor." Mr Lemon, who has eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, said his second favourite food was fish and chips. He added: "You can put custard with apples, gooseberries, any fruit from the garden." For his 100th birthday, he was given his own Bird's custard jug. He has received three cards from royalty which sit on his mantle - a letter from Queen Elizabeth II on his 100th birthday and two from King Charles and Queen Camilla for his 105th and 106th birthdays. As for his advice for growing older, Mr Lemon, originally from Ealing, London, said: "Everything in moderation. I'm so lucky and I'm quite happy. The thing that has changed the most is video calls. I can't work it myself. I'm a bit old fashioned." Mr Lemon married his wife Doreen in 1944 and remained together until her death in 1999. They had three children - Michael, Mary and Richard - but Mary sadly died from hepatitis caused by polluted seawater when she was ten. Youngest son Richard, 73, said: "When we were growing up, we always had fresh fruit and veg - no one froze things in the 50s. "Dad is a believer in that you should always have pudding and he's had custard as long as I can remember." Mr Lemon has also been honoured with a year's supply of free custard from Asda. An Asda spokesperson said: 'We'll all be taking a leaf out of Mr Lemon's book and enjoying more custard going forward, we hope he enjoys a free year's supply on us. "When life gives you lemons add custard!' Mr Lemon's family said: "He's absolutely delighted. He'll probably put it all under his bed."
