Major O'Donovan's remains buried here from 1952-2019. Manila, Philippines
Having died On October 18, 1942 Major O'Donovan was buried the following day in grave #649 of the officer's plot located in the cemetery outside of camp #1 Cabanatuan. He was the 1,998th American to die at that camp from malnutrition, poor sanitation, and no medicine.
In 1945, After the conclusion of the war, the soldiers buried at Cabanatuan were exhumed by the Graves Registration Service and moved to a temporary cemetery in Manila, called Manila Cemetery #2. Later they were again exhumed and relocated to a Mausoleum at Nichols Field for analysis and identification.
It was very challenging to confirm identities of remains that had been found in the Cabanatuan camp graveyard as they had been buried for 3 years in shallow graves of moist ground. The remains were in poor condition and the state forensic identification was still crude. Many plots contained several men. Of the nearly 2700 American soldiers buried at Cabanatuan, James was among the 800 or so of them that were unidentifiable and therefore buried as "Unknown".
In 1952, the remains which were associated with Major O'Donovan were buried in a grave marked "140" in row 10, Plot H of the Manila American Cemetery. All of the aforementioned details were classified, and not revealed to the public until 2010.
Sadly, his wife and their 5 young children were advised that his remains could not be identified, his body was forever lost to them. And that's how the story ended.. Or so we thought.
In Feb 2018, the family discovered the US Government was now able to use family DNA samples to identify and bring home the remains of the "Unknowns" from cemeteries all over the world. The family submitted the requisite DNA samples and waited for years to hear back.
Finally in February of 2025, The army notified the family that certain identification was made. Plans are in works to bring back Major O'Donovan's remains for a funeral near his family. (edited 3/4/2025)
Record of admission into Prison camp hospital. He was admitted in July, and died there in October.
Death Certificate of Maj. O'Donovan written on the back side of a milk can label.