CWO Charles George Benthien Repatriation

U.S. Army CWO Charles G. Benthien, 46, of Denver, Colorado, killed during World War II, was accounted for Feb. 25, 2025.

In April 1942, Benthien was assigned to the Headquarters, Philippine Department on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines. He was 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 ship Oryoku Maru. Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay. Benthien was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru. On Jan. 9, 1945, the Japanese reported that Benthien was killed when U.S. forces attacked and sank the Enoura Maru.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel. In May 1946, AGRC Search and Recovery Team #9 exhumed a mass grave on a beach at Takao, Formosa, recovering 311 bodies, including those designated as designated X-530 Schofield Mausoleum #2. Following unsuccessful attempts to identify the remains, they were declared unidentifiable. They were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), Honolulu.



Between October 2022 and July 2023, DPAA disinterred Unknowns from the NMCP linked to the Enoura Maru, including X-530. The remains were accessioned into the DPAA Laboratory for further analysis.

To identify Benthien's remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial, Y-chromosome, and autosomal DNA analysis.



Benthien's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.



Benthien was returned home and is now buried in San Diego, California.