Student research identifies 195 MIA Aggies from World War II onward

Published online by Texas A&M University in August, an undergraduate research thesis by Jackson Baker ’25 contains the first comprehensive list of Aggies still listed as missing in action from World War II onward.

Baker, a double major in history and anthropology and commanding officer of Company I-1 in the Corps of Cadets, worked with fellow history research interns to identify Aggies still missing from World War II, the Korean War and the Cold War era, and they updated a previously published list from the Vietnam War. 

No Aggies are known to be missing in action past the Vietnam War, per Baker’s thesis. Baker's team compiled lists, cross-checked references and combed through records including The Association of Former Students’ Find an Aggie database (tx.ag/FindAnAggie).

Baker gave permission for The Association to publish the names his research verified:

• tx.ag/MIAAggiesWWII: 173 names
• tx.ag/MIAAggiesKoreaColdWar: 12 names 
• tx.ag/VietnamMIAAggies: 10 still missing; 15 accounted for.

Below are edited excerpts from Baker's thesis, telling a few of the Aggie stories he and his team uncovered.

True To Each Other And To Texas A&M, To The Last

By Jackson Baker ’25

Through this project, I have gotten to know over 193 Aggies, who until this research have not been remembered together. Walking around campus, to and from class, I think of their names and their faces, and I look at the buildings that they once saw when they were students. Through their memory, I reflect on my own experience as an Aggie and as a member of the Corps of Cadets. 

In learning their stories, I have learned what a life lived selflessly truly looks like.

Roommates, or “ol’ ladies,” Capt. Robert C. Robbins ’41 and 1st Lt. Burt Olney Griffin ’41, Corps of Cadets Company F, completed four years at Texas A&M together. Both were taken prisoner by the Japanese during the fall of the Philippines. Robbins nursed Griffin back to health on multiple occasions while both suffered together in the Cabanatuan prisoner of war camp. After surviving the Japanese “hell ship” Nagato Maru, the two were separated. 

Robbins’ blanket was his last gift to Griffin. Griffin would later die in Moji, Japan, where he is still unaccounted for. 

Their spirit lives on at Texas A&M University in the traditions continued by students today, and I hope that their stories continue to impact the lives of others, just as they have impacted me. 

Capt. Robley David Evans ’40 was among the estimated 33 Aggies who managed to survive the Japanese POW camps and return home after the war.

Among his statements of testimony delivered to the U.S. government after World War II is a passage about his capture on Bataan before embarking upon the death march to Camp O’Donnell. 

After being stripped of his belongings, Capt. Evans approached the Japanese commanding officer, demanding the return of his A&M class ring. He was severely beaten on the spot.

This was a common issue among Aggies: Lt. Urban Hopmann ’39 survived the war as a POW by burying his Aggie Ring each night, reportedly declaring, “You can do whatever you want with me, but you can’t take my Aggie Ring!”

Capt. Evans’ notebook preserved numerous pages of bets placed with his fellow prisoners. Winners were likely to get a full meal of their choice, or tickets to an Aggie football game, all expenses paid: “Four Tickets All Expenses to Turkey Day Game. Luzon Not Bombed Prior to 12/15/43. W. M. Curtis (WON).” 

Capt. William Mark Curtis ’32 would not live to see his end of the bet with Capt. Evans. Capt. Curtis later perished with 13 fellow Aggies aboard the Japanese POW “hell ship” Arisan Maru, when it was sunk on Oct. 24, 1944. Capt. Curtis and 1,773 POWs from the ship are still unaccounted for.

In a letter to the Association of Former Students on July 14, 1945, Capt. Curtis' mother wrote, “I feel that these men lived up to the highest American tradition of courage and ingenuity; they never quit, and they never lost their sense of humor. They have left a wonderful heritage for our children, and it is up to us to try to live up to their example and make their efforts worthwhile.”

Even among death, these notebooks and stories show how the American POWs faced each unknown day with a hope and courage that cannot be described. There is also something to be found within these stories that is equally indescribable: how Aggies were willing to risk their lives for a college class ring; how Aggies, in the midst of the monthlong siege of Corregidor, would still come together to honor the Texas A&M Muster tradition; how the thought of seeing an A&M football game was able to give an Aggie hope for life after the war. The story of fallen Aggies cannot be told without an understanding of their intense connection to each other and to Texas A&M. 

Aggie MIA/POW Research Team

Lead researcher: Jackson Baker ’25.

Texas A&M History Research Internship undergraduate and graduate students: Biography Team: Kate Attaway ’26, Ellie O’Connell ’25 and William Kramer ’24. Missing Air Crew Report Team: Ryan Holcomb ’25 and Nicholas Leite ’25. Photo Memorial Research Team: Zach Maddux ’24 and Carlye Pavlosky ’25. Cross-Checking Team: Tristan Krause ’22. MIA Aggie Researchers: Ethan Boyd ’25, Matthew Kelly ’23 and Mariah Twiner ’24. 

Faculty advisors: Dr. Adam R. Seipp and Dr. Piotr T. Bojakowski ’07.

Texas A&M’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency research partner historian: Dr. Erika Weidemann Bravo ’20.

More Stories From ‘The Duty Ours’

Biographical details such as these are available for many of the MIA Aggies at the project’s website, tx.ag/TheDutyOurs, and in the published thesis at tx.ag/Baker25Thesis.

World War II

Capt. John August Earl “Red” Bergstrom ’29 

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas, is named in his honor. Killed in the attack on Clark Field, Luzon, during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. His remains were buried at the Fort Stotsenberg cemetery north of Manila, but remain unidentified.

Korean War

Capt. William Perry “Brownie” Brown, Jr. ’46 

Pilot of F4U-4 Corsair. Crashed after taking direct hits from enemy fire during while conducting a strafing run on North Korean targets in Sariwon, North Korea. The aircraft burst into flames and the crash was considered non-survivable. Awarded a second Navy Cross posthumously. (His first Navy Cross had been awarded for actions during World War II.)

Cold War 

Maj. Lester Lee Lackey ’52 

Pilot of an RB-57 Canberra reconnaissance aircraft. Crashed into the Black Sea during a reconnaissance mission. The plane was not lost due to Soviet activity, but likely crashed due to an oxygen system failure.

Vietnam

Capt. Steven Bruce “Steve” Johnston ‘68 

Weapons system officer aboard F-4D Phantom II. Aircraft hit by ground fire and crashed over target in Laos. Both crewmembers parachuted. The pilot was rescued, but Johnston was trapped under a log and presumed dead. Enemy fire prevented his recovery. His body remains missing.

Other resources

Visit tx.ag/LostInService to view lists submitted to The Association of Former Students including Aggies killed in World War II and Aggies honored at Arlington National Cemetery, on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and at some overseas cemeteries.

The Book of Aggie Lists by former Corps of Cadets commandant Col. James Woodall '50 also contains many rosters of Aggies who served in wars, were decorated or died in the line of duty. It was published in 2020 by the Texas A&M University Press as part of the Centennial Series of The Association of Former Students.