Note:

A significant discovery of skeletal remains occurred on Wake Island in the spring of 2011, and JPAC has reason to believe that these bones relate to the group of 98 civilian contractors who were killed on Wake in 1943.  Bonnie is heavily involved in this effort by spearheading a Wake Island Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command activity.

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Bonnie's Letter To Family Members:

Winter 2013

Dear Friend,

I am writing to give you and your family some information about the JPAC mission to locate family members of the men who died on Wake Island during WWII. JPAC stands for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a government agency based at Pearl Harbor. JPAC sends forensic anthropologists all over the world to investigate the discovery of remains from our nation's wars, and conducts scientific research to identify those remains.

A significant discovery of skeletal remains occurred on Wake Island in the spring of 2011, and JPAC has reason to believe that these bones relate to the group of 98 civilian contractors who were killed on Wake in 1943. Identifications may also be traced to the other civilians and servicemen who died on Wake during December 1941 and in early 1942. After the war, known graves were exhumed, and the remains were counted as best they could be and removed to Hawaii, where they now rest in the Punchbowl Cemetery with a plaque naming nearly all the deceased. However, no full accounting of all of the bodies – either the December 1941 casualties or the 98 – has ever been made.

I offered to assist JPAC in finding family members of the Wake dead who might be able to provide DNA samples to help identify the newly discovered bones. I am a "Wake Family" member too; my dad, a steel worker named Ted Olson, was taken POW and survived, and I have been researching the Wake contractors for several years for my book, Building for War. I am closely involved with the survivors group and have used our mailing lists, as well as websites and other contacts to locate families. JPAC has provided me with DNA Family Reference Sample kits to distribute, or you may contact them directly for kits. There is no cost except mailing DNA samples to the Armed Forces DNA ID Laboratory and it is a simple swab process. Candidates must be through the female line of the family: that is, the mother (and her birth family) of the deceased, any living siblings of the deceased, and children of the female siblings or descendants. JPAC can provide more detail on mitochondrial DNA and answer any questions: JPAC, Central Identification Laboratory, 310 Worchester Ave., Hickam AFB, HI 96853, 808-448-1730, http://www.jpac.pacom.mil

Thank you for joining me in this mission to help identify these remains, so long buried in the coral on Wake Island, and to honor the deceased. Please feel free to contact me any time.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Gilbert
3936 N. Miners Loop
Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815
208-664-3120 (H) or 720-244-7313 (cell)
Bonita.gilbert@gmail.com