Lost in 1944, WWII Soldier’s Remains Returned to Wisconsin

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Cpl. John J. Ginzl, 27, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, will be interred May 24, in the Forest Home Cemetery in his hometown. Hildebrand-Russ Funeral Home will coordinate services and interment.

In 1942, Ginzl was assigned to 17th Bombardment Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines. He was captured on April 9 and held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines until 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport shipOryoku Maru. Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked theOryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay. Ginzl was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard theEnoura Maru. The Japanese reported that Ginzl died on Jan. 9, 1945, when U.S. forces attacked and sank theEnoura Maru.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency accounted for Ginzl on June 11, 2025.

For more information on DPAA’s efforts to locate and identify Ginzl, please visit: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4357190/airman-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-ginzl-j/

U.S. Army Human Resources Command’s Past Conflict Repatriations Branch plays a vital role in the process of identifying, locating and contacting subsequent generation family members of Soldiers missing or killed in action during WWII and the Korean War to positively identify previously undiscovered or unknown remains.

Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact Hildebrand-Russ Funeral Home at 715-365-4343.