Remains of Rhinelander man killed during World War II identified

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has announced tU.S. Army Air Forces Cpl. John J. Ginzl, 27, Rhinelander, killed during World War II, was accounted for June 11, 2025.

According to a DPAA press release, Ginzl's family “recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.”

In 1942, Ginzl was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines. 

He was captured on April 9 and held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines until 1944 when the Japanese military moved prisoners of war (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.

Ginzl was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru.

The Japanese reported that Ginzl died on Jan. 9, 1945, 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-546A Schofield Mausoleum #1.

Following unsuccessful attempts to identify the remains, they were declared unidentifiable and buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Between October 2022 and July 2023, DPAA disinterred Unknowns from the Punchbowl linked to the Enoura Maru, including X-546A.

The remains were accessioned into the DPAA Laboratory for further analysis.

To identify Ginzl’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.

Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA analysis.

Ginzl’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.

Ginzl will be buried in Rhinelander in May 2026.