Remains of North Dakota soldier who died in prison fire in Japan identified

Sgt. Irvin Ellingson (Dept. of Veterans Affairs)

WASHINGTON – The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Irvin Ellingson, a Dahlen, North Dakota native who served during World War II, have been identified. Senator John Hoeven says The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that the remains of Ellingson, 25, were accounted for on June 17, 2025.

In the spring of 1945, Ellingson served as a radar observer aboard a Boeing B-29 “Superfortress” bomber assigned to 878th Bombardment Squadron, 499th Bombardment Group. During a combat mission to Tokyo, Japan, the aircraft was shot down over Chiba Prefecture. Ellingson survived the crash but was captured and held as a prisoner of war. He lost his life on May 26, 1945 in the Tokyo Military Prison during a fire.

Hoeven says the DPAA was able to conduct the disinterment that led to the identification of Ellingson and his fellow servicemembers. The DPAA identified Ellingson’s remains using anthropological and DNA analysis and other circumstantial evidence.

Ellingson’s name is listed on the Courts of the Missing at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, where a rosette will be placed next to his name to mark that he’s been identified. He will be buried in his hometown on June 20, 2026.