Remains of MIA Oregon WWII soldier ID’d 76 years later

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The remains of a World War II soldier from Ashland who went missing in the final weeks of the Guadalcanal campaign have been identified, 76 years after he was listed as missing in action.

The Department of Defense says skeletal remains found in a bag recovered two years ago in the South Pacific are those of Pfc. Dale W. Ross, whose surviving family lives in Ashland.

The remains and the dog tags were found by an 8-year-old boy in the jungle and his family gave them to a visiting American tourist, asking her to help find the soldier’s surviving family.

The woman, Donna Esposito, found Ross’ nephew and niece, and the family gave the bones to the military for analysis.

The trio traveled to the Solomon Islands in 2017.

Ross was born in North Dakota, but moved with his family as a young child to Ashland. He was the third of four brothers who fought in WWII.

Assigned to the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, he was listed as MIA on Jan. 14, 1943, during the final weeks of the Guadalcanal campaign. He was last seen in an area that saw heavy fighting around a Japanese-held hilltop.

A search was conducted, but fellow soldiers were unable to locate his remains. On July 14, 1949, based on a lack of information, the U.S. Army determined Ross to be non-recoverable, the statement said. He was 22 at the time.

The other three Ross brothers made it back home, including the oldest, Charles, who served aboard a Navy PT boat in the Solomons and visited Guadalcanal in the vain attempt to learn about his brother Dale’s fate.