Andrew Ladner

On July 9, 2021, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private Andrew Joseph Ladner, missing from World War II.

Private Ladner entered the U.S. Army from Mississippi and served in an Anti-tank Company, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. In late 1942, American and Australian troops were engaged with Japanese troops in the mountainous jungles of New Guinea for control of the north-coast port of Buna. Private Ladner's unit was posted to the extreme left of the Allied line, near the Soputa-Sanananda Track. On November 30, 1942, Private Ladner was killed during fighting in this area, but the exact circumstances of his loss are unknown. Unit records indicated that Private Ladner was buried approximately four and a half miles north of Soputa; however, after the war, U.S. personnel were unable to locate his remains. On November 3, 2016, a set of unknown remains was exhumed from the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial and accessioned to a DPAA Laboratory for possible identification. Laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established the remains as those of Private Ladner.

Private Ladner is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

We are privileged to be part of a community that is serving the family of a WWII U.S. Army hero who was killed in action on Nov. 30, 1942, on the Island of New Guinea.  Private Andrew Ladner was finally identified at the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska in 2020.

Private Ladner was born November 29, 1912, and served in the Anti-Tank Company, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division (now 32nd IBCT, WIARNG).

He is survived by nieces and nephews.

The aircraft carrying Private Ladner will land at 8pm on Friday, April 1, 2022, in New Orleans.  We will be receiving Private Ladner planeside at the Louis Armstrong International Airport with honors rendered planeside by the United States Army Honor Guard based out of Ft. Polk.

Police escorts have been arranged to lead the procession from the airport to Riemann Family Funeral Homes, Inc., 11280 Three Rivers Road, Gulfport.  For those in the community wishing to show their respect for his sacrifice, you may assemble along the Crossroads Parkway in Gulfport on Friday night, April 1, 2022, between the hours of 9:30pm-11pm as we pay tribute to a hero from the “Greatest Generation”.

Once the procession arrives at the funeral home, the Mississippi Army National Guard based out of Camp Shelby will render honors once again.

Mass of Christian Burial is set for Saturday, April 9, 2022, at St. Thomas Catholic Church at 11am.  Visitation will be held one hour prior. He will be laid to rest in the Ladner family plot at Wolf River Cemetery with full military honors. https://www.wxxv25.com/world-war-ii-vet-laid-to-rest-on-the-coast/

Update:

It was a sincere privilege for our family and our team at Riemann Family Funeral Homes to be part of the homecoming celebration for WWII hero, Private Andrew Ladner.  Our community has showed its full support for the family from the very first moment we knew he was finally coming home to be laid to rest.  On behalf of the family, thank you to the U.S. Army for bringing Private Ladner home and honoring his sacrifice, and to the various law enforcement agencies, fire departments, veterans organizations, the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi, elected officials, videographers, and our at-large community for making this a special homecoming and a reality after 80 years.  We are Blessed to live in South Mississippi.  As Private Ladner came home, the first word that came to mind was, “Grateful.”

Please see the YouTube link that shows an edited version of the Celebration of Private Ladner’s journey beginning with his landing in New Orleans, coming home to the Coast, celebrating his Mass of Christian Burial, and finally processing to his final place of rest in Wolf River Cemetery.

God Bless Private Andrew Ladner, his family, and God Bless America,

The Riemann Family

https://youtu.be/5MJHukcsaDI