Earl Seibert

The remains of an Allentown soldier who died in a prisoner of war camp during World War II have been identified more than 80 years later.

The Department of Defense said in a news release Monday that the remains of Pvt. Earl Seibert, 23, were identified in August.

Seibert was a member of the Headquarters Company, 803rd Engineer Battalion when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941, according to the release.

After months of fighting, Seibert and other U.S. and Filipino service members surrendered to the Japanese. They were taken to the Cabanatuan POW Camp 1, where more than 2,500 POWs died during the war, the Department of Defense said.

Records show Seibert died July 27, 1942, and he was buried along with others in a common grave at the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery. After the war, the American Graves Registration Service exhumed those buried in the common grave and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila.

In 1947, ARGS was only able to identify three personnel and the rest were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as unknowns, the release states. The Department of Defense said that the memorial was meticulously cared for by the American Battle Monuments Commission for more than 70 years.

In 2018, the remains from that common grave were disinterred and sent to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for analysis. Scientists there used anthropological evidence, and scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used DNA analysis to help identify Seibert, according to the release.

While Seibert’s remains were identified in August, his family was only recently fully briefed on his identification, according to the DPAA. His family will determine his burial date and location.

He was among a group of Allentown soldiers who were sent to the Philippines in 1941, according to Morning Call reporting from the time.