Relatives Of SFC Thomas F. Brooks Sought By KY Dept of Veteran Affairs

Edmonson Voice Staff Report:
The Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs has been asked by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to help find relatives of Kentuckian PFC Thomas F. Brooks who was born in Edmonson County, according to a statement from the organization.
 
The statement said they are looking for DNA  of family members to aid in the identification of remains.  

"The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency goes to great lengths to identify remains of missing/presumed dead service members and return them to their family, said Public Information Officer Lisa Aug in an email.  "You may have read about the Korean War soldier from Kentucky whose remains were recently identified and interred at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville last Friday.  We would very much like to assist in obtaining the same homecoming for Private First Class Brooks."
 
A statement from the Department of Defense said:
Private First Class Thomas F. Brooks joined the U.S. Army in Kentucky and served with the 194th Tank Battalion in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of beriberi on December 10, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Private First Class Brooks is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

If you are a relative of SFC Brooks, or know someone that is, please click here to find out more.
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