Remains of Colorado WWII soldier identified and will be buried in Florence

FLORENCE, Colo. — A 25-year-old Colorado prisoner of war who died during World War II was finally found in late 2023, and his remains will be buried in a Florence cemetery this month.

US Army Technology. 5 Clifford H. Strickland, of Fowler, Colorado, was a member of Company C, 803rd Engineer Battalion (Aviation) when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Thousands of service members, including Strickland, were captured and interned in prisoner of war camps after American forces on Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.

POWs were also forced to participate in the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp, where more than 2,500 of them died.

The American army

Based on historical records, Strickland died on July 29, 1942, the DPAA said, and was buried at the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in mass grave 215.

He was 25 years old.

DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analyzes to identify his remains. He was officially found on December 20, 2023 after his remains were exhumed from the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in 2018.

Strickland will be buried June 29 at Union Highland Cemetery in Florence. TG McCarthy Funeral Home in Pueblo will conduct a graveside service, DPAA said.

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