PART 2 OF 2The Patriot Guard Riders have been invited to accompany, Tech 4 Lloyd R. Bruntmyer, 22, to his final place of rest for full military honors. It will our honor to accompany this repatriated WWII hero from the Greatest Generation.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Tech4 Lloyd R. Bruntmyer, 22, of Des Moines, Iowa, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 23, 2024.
In late 1941, Bruntmyer was a member of 7th Materiel Squadron, 5th Air Base Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Bruntmyer was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Bruntmyer died Nov. 1, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 704.
In 2018, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, DPAA exhumed the remains associated with Common Grave 704 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Bruntmyer’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA, mitochondrial genome sequence, and Y chromosome DNA analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Bruntmyer’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Today, Bruntmyer is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
NOTE: This mission posting is to facilitate your voluntary participation in honoring this WWII hero. For those interested, and all PGR members are welcome, we will be accompanying this hero from the funeral home to the cemetery, 4 miles. Please see the timetable if you would like to participate.
TIMETABLE FOR SATURDAY, 01 NOVEMBER 20251000: Stage at Beardsley-Mitchell Funeral Home, 1818 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, San Diego, CA.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/kj3MwBkaEL31iQ5T71015: Mission briefing.
1030: KSU to Fort Rosecrans, 1700 Cabrillo Dr, San Diego, CA.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/1rqYJbyr8Fr8SZ2E61100: ETA to Fort Rosecrans.
1130: Flag line and military honors.
Robert “Chopper Bob” Mahoney
SoCal Patriot Guard Ride Captain
(760) 201-7905You do not have to be a veteran or a motorcycle rider to attend this mission. All PGR members are welcome. We encourage those who do not ride to attend in your car. If this will be your first mission go to the initial staging area and you will be briefed there by the Ride Captain (RC). Dress for motorcycle riding or dress casually if you are driving a cage (car). Please feel free to attend any portion of this mission you can. Please ride/drive safely.
