WASHINGTON, D.C. (WLNE) — A Massachusetts man who was captured and died as a prisoner of war in the Pacific theater of World War II has been accounted for, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). U.S. Army Air Forces Pfc. Bernard J. Calvi, 23, of North Adams, was a member of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group on the Philippine Islands in late 1941. Japanese forces invaded the islands in December of that year, leading to intense fighting until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942 and of the Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. Calvi was among those reported captured during the surrender and subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March to Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. Calvi died on July 16, 1942 and was buried in the local Cabanatuan camp Cemetery in Common Grave 316. War fallen were exhumed from the cemetery after the conclusion of the war, and in 1947, 11 sets of remains from Common Grave 316 were identified, while 17 were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as Unknowns. As part of the Cabanatuan Project, the DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 316 in April of 2019. The remains were sent to the DPAA lab for analysis, and Calvi’s remains were identified using dental and anthropological analysis, as well as DNA analysis. Calvi is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, and a rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Calvi will be buried in North Adams on December 9, 2024.   Categories: Massachusetts, News