Webberville soldier returns home nearly 83 years after his death in World War II
By Steve Horton
A Webberville soldier has returned home nearly 83 years after his death at the start of World War II.
James W. Swartz, who grew up in the community, died on Sept. 23, 1942, at age 21 in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in the Phillipines.
For much of that time, his remains were classified as nonrecoverable. But thanks to the diligent efforts of the U.S. Army and DNA samples from his closest living descendant, Lori Byrnes, a great niece who lives in Fowlerville, he was identified and brought back to Michigan for burial.
Byrnes noted that four generations of James Swartz’s nieces and nephews were gathering this Saturday, May 3, 2025 to celebrate his life and finally bring him home. The funeral, with full military honors, was taking place at Summit Cemetery in Williamston. He was being buried next to his parents.
“We hope Jim will find peace and love in his final resting place,” Byrnes added.
Jim was born May 18, 1921, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His parents were Marie Scheltema (Swartz) Stingham and Charles Stringham. He had two sisters Elouise (Swartz) Meyer and Edna Stringham and one brother Chuck Stringham.
Elouise was Lori’s grandmother.
Lori put together an obituary for the Army, using information from letters Jim had written his sister while in the service and other family artifacts as well as the oral history that had been handed down over the years.
“I didn’t have much to go on,” she added.
In the obituary, it was noted that Jim attended school in Webberville and graduated in the Class of 1939. He enjoyed sports, especially basketball and his mother’s home cooking.
In August of 1939, Jim enlisted in the Air Corp Division of the Army, and attended training at Selfridge Field and at the Curtiss Wright Aromatic University in Chicago.
Jim served in the 17th Pursuit Squadron as a Staff Sergeant, at Nichols Field in the Philippines for two years. After Pearl Harbor was bombed, the U.S. entered World War II on December 8, 1941. The very next day the Japanese began devastating air raids in the Philippines which continued until April 1942, when the sick and starving US forces surrendered.
Jim was one of the 10,000 American prisoners that were forced on the 65-mile “Bataan Death March” into captivity. He died tragically at the age of 21 years, in the Cabanatuan POW Camp, Sept. 23, 1942, of malaria, dysentery and malnutrition.
After the war, U.S. forces attempted to recover remains of U.S. soldiers, but due to lack of physical evidence Jim’s remains was classified nonrecoverable. In 2017, Jim’s Gr. Niece, Lori Byrnes of Fowlerville, was asked to submit DNA samples. In 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, the unknowns were exhumed and sent to the lab for analysis. Sgt James W. Swartz was ultimately identified in August 2024.
“The descendants of James W. Swartz are honored to memorialize a wonderful young man that meant so much to his family and friends, 83 years after his passing,” said Byrnes.
“My great grandma lived to be 97 years old and she never stopped missing her son,” Byrnes noted. “To think he had such a brutal ending haunted her. It changed our whole family and is so sad. Through reading the letters he wrote my grandmother I was able to glean a little bit about Jim. I wish I would have gotten to know him. It is a great thing the Army did to finally bring him home-it matters.“
Arrangements were entrusted to Herrmann Funeral Home. Online condolences may be expressed at pjherrmannfuneralhome.com
