Soldier from Delaware identified after dying as a prisoner of war during World War II

A soldier from Delaware has been accounted for after he was killed during World War II, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Wilmington native U.S. Army Lt. Col. Louis E. Roemer was 43 in early 1942 when he was captured and held as a prisoner of war in the Philippines by Japan, the agency said.

Lt. Col. Roemer was on the Bataan Peninsula of the Philippines assigned to the Chemical Warfare Service before the capture, the agency explained.

In 1945, the Japanese military moved the prisoners to Manila so they could be taken to Japan on the ship Oryoku Maru which was ultimately attacked by a U.S. aircraft and sank, according to the agency.

Roemer was then placed on the Enoura Maru to be taken to Takao, Formosa, which is now known as Taiwan today, agency officials said.

The Enoura Maru was also hit by U.S. forces and sank, the agency said.

This was followed with Roemer being transported to Moji, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, aboard the Brazil Maru, the agency explained.

It was reported that Roemer died on Jan. 22, 1945 of acute colitis while in the final stage of his transport, according to the agency.

But, officials said that it’s possible he could have died “at any point” during the transportation of prisoners of war between Dec. 1944 and Jan. 1945 because the list of those who died aboard the Brazil Maru is flawed, according to Japanese government reports.

After the war, the American Graves Registration Command said that they recovered over 300 bodies from a mass grave that was found on a beach in Takao, Formosa.

Officials explained that they tried to identify the remains but they were declared unidentifiable and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

Then, between October of 2022 and July of 2023, the remains connected to the Enoura Maru who were buried in Honolulu were exhumed and taken for testing, the agency said.

Scientists were able to identify Roemer’s body through dental and anthropological records, according to the agency.

Roemer’s name is among those on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines so a marker will be placed next to his name to indicate that he is accounted for, the agency announced.

According to newspaper clippings from the war, Roemer is credited with saving hundreds of lives while in charge of hospital services at Cabanatuan Prison.

After Roemer died, his wife was given two honors for him: The Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star with V device, according to newspaper clippings from when it happened.