Missouri soldier killed in WWII to be buried at Arlington

CASSVILLE, Mo. (AP) – Burial will be Sept. 13 for a Missouri soldier killed during World War II, but whose remains went unidentified for nearly eight decades.

Army Sgt. John V. Phillips of Cassville, Missouri, will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The U.S. Army says Phillips was a member of Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941.

He was among thousands of service members captured.

He was held captive at the Cabanatuan POW camp, where he died. His remains went unidentified until December 2019, when a lab was able to use DNA and other evidence.