Units

The remains of WW II China Burma India warrior Myles Wendall Esmay, who would be 105 years old if alive today, will be buried at 1 PM, Aug. 1, 2022, at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

The Utica, NY native, was a 27-year-old lieutenant, Company B, 236^th Engineer Combat Battalion, fighting as a replacement to the 5307^th Composite Unit Provisional. He was KIA June 7, 1944, trying to hold the Myitkyina airfield and capture the town of Myitkyina, Burma.

Recovery of his remains was announced in May 2021 by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. The DPAA news release stated in part, “Esmay’s battalion arrived at the recently captured airfield in Myitkyina, Burma, on May 28, where they were tasked with holding the airfield and taking part in the siege of Myitkyina. On June 4, the battalion attacked Japanese forces at Namkwi village northwest of the airfield. The fighting lasted until June 7. Esmay was reported to have been killed on the last day of fighting.”

Esmay enlisted in the Army Dec. 19, 1940, and “was continuously in the service of his country until his death,” according to an October 1944 obituary in his college newspaper, “The Triad.”  In June of that year, Esmay had graduated “with honors” from New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, NY.

Esmay’s nephew, Peter Esmay, and his wife, Lynne, who live in Nyack, NY, have been coordinating with the military for Esmay’s remains to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at 1 PM on Aug. 1^st. Peter explained that he became the point of contact for his uncle’s ceremony following the death of his oldest sister, Judy, who had been the POC.

“Although I never knew Myles, I was aware he had been killed in Burma and was very proud to be his nephew. My family and I have learned so much about my uncle through my collaboration with the Army. The amount of time, effort and money the Army has invested to bring Myles home is extraordinary. They have not only brought him home, but they have brought together a family that has been disconnected for so long.”

Peter provided guidelines for those planning to attend the service:

• All attendees MUST be in a vehicle and check in at the main gate on Memorial Ave. by 12:15 PM
• (Do not arrive too early since other services are being held that day.)
• All passengers except children under 16 must provide photo ID
• You will be directed to a specific lane to line up for the Myles Esmay service.
• After vehicles arrive at a transfer point with the casket, those wanting to follow on foot will form behind the caisson to walk to the grave site. (Each of their vehicles must have a driver since cars will also be proceeding to the grave site.)
• The service will be kept to a strict timeline. The chaplain will conduct the service, which concludes following two-minute remarks by two speakers.

Esmay was one of about 2,500 replacements along with the almost 3,000 Merrill’s Marauders on the rolls of the 5307^th CUP when it disbanded Aug. 10, 1944 – who were honored Sept. 22, 2020, when Congress passed legislation awarding the unit a Congressional Gold Medal. Then President Donald Trump signed the legislation into law Oct. 17, 2020.

On May 25, 2022, speaker Nancy Pelosi hosted a virtual Congressional Gold Medal ceremony televised on C-Span, when the medal, designed by the U.S. Mint, was unveiled to the public.  Only one gold medal is produced, which is permanently displayed at the Smithsonian.  Anyone can purchase a bronze replica, available in two sizes, from the U.S. Mint.

Esmay’s name will remain permanently inscribed on the “Walls of the Missing” at the Manila American Cemetery. Remains of other veterans of the 5307^th CUP have been identified and returned home in recent years. 

WW II Rosie the Riveter Eleanor Stark, 98 this year, from the Savannah area is still waiting for remains of her MIA husband, Luther “Buck” Bagley to come home.  Bagley, a 5307^th replacement, was KIA July 25, 1944, and also fighting to hold the Myitkyina airfield and capture the town of Myitkyina. 

Despite the passage of 78 years since a young 23-year-old PVT Robert W. Landis was the first Merrill’s Marauder killed in action, his ultimate sacrifice on Feb. 25, 1944, has not been forgotten.

The Youngstown, Ohio native will be honored during a 10 AM ceremony Aug. 12, 2022, at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Youngstown, OH. where LTC Michael Kelvington, an Akron, OH native, will be the guest speaker.

Kelvington is a West Point graduate whose multifaceted military career includes leadership positions in numerous Ranger and other units, multiple awards and decorations alongwith seven combat deployments. He is now departmental chair and professor of military science and leadership for Ohio State University’s Military Science & Leadership program.

Landis’ newly-cleaned military marker will be reset at his grave where a new marker will be added to recognize his service and sacrifice with Merrill’s Marauders and the unit being awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in September 2020.

Prior to entering the Army in 1941 with the Ohio 37^th National Guard Division, Landis had been attending law school. He was a veteran of New Guinea battles in the South Pacific before volunteering for Merrill’s Marauders in 1943.

At the time of his death, Landis had been overseas for 22 months. Camp Landis in India, where the 475^th Infantry was formed after the Marauders disbanded Aug. 10, 1944, was named in his honor.

Landis was the youngest member of the 2^nd Battalion, Blue Combat Team, five-man patrol led by T/SGT Joseph Freer when he was KIA during a firefight at Lanem ga, a small village of bashi huts. Freer had been told by LT William Grissom to take a patrol to check out the village.

Vincent Melillo at the time of his death Christmas Eve, 2015 was the last living member of that patrol.  It was his first time in combat. He was crying when his account of the patrol was first recorded when he was in his 60s. A second patrol went out the next day to recover Landis’ body and bury him along the trail, where his body was later recovered.

The effort to refurbish Landis’ grave was initiated by Tammy Dixon, daughter of 5307^th replacement James Junkins JR.  She retired in 2021 as an administrative assistant In the Office of Academic Affairs’ Military Science & Leadership at the University of Akron in Ohio.

The address for Landis’ Aug. 12, 2022, ceremony at 10 AM is:

Forest Lawn Cemetery
5400 Market St.
Youngstown, OH 44512