Pictured is Cpl. Glenn Hodak. His remains will be returned to Youngsville today. Visitation and a service will be held Monday at the Youngsville Free Methodist Church.

A motorcade bringing the body of Cpl. Glenn Hodak from Pittsburgh to Youngsville is expected to end around 7 p.m. tonight.

Hodak was a prisoner of war in World War II whose remains were identified in September 2024. Following the end of World War II, American Graves Registration Service and the US Army Quartermaster Corps searched for and disinterred 65 sets of remains. AGRS identified 25 sets of U.S. remains in 1949 and 1950, leaving 40 unknowns. One of those 40 was identified as a Japanese national, leaving 39 people whose identities remained unknown. Investigations associated Cpl. Hodak with the Tokyo Prison Fire based on multiple pieces of evidence. At the end of the AGRS identification efforts, the 39 unknown soldiers’ remains were buried in Fort McKinley Cemetery, now Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila, Republic of the Philippines.

In March and April 2022, all associated unknowns were exhumed. Hodak was identified on Sept. 25, 2024. His remains are the first to be identified of the unknowns interred in Manila. On March 19, 2025, James Bell, mortuary affairs officer – identification specialist, Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division, and Sgt. Katrina Hood, SFC/Operations NCO, held a full briefing of the events that lead to the death and finally the identification of Hodak.

His remains will make their way back to Youngsville today. A motorcade involving numerous Pennsylvania State Police vehicles will be traveling through the Troop E coverage area from the Pittsburgh International Airport to Youngsville and will include marked PSP motorcycles, PSP patrol units, between 50 and 300 Patriot Guard Riders and a funeral coach.

The motorcade will enter Troop E coverage area once they take the I-80 east exit of Barkeyville. They will then travel Route 8 into the city of Franklin onto Route 417 to divert past Oil City. They will take Route 417 back to Route 8, where they will travel through Titusville to meet up with Route 27 and take Enterprise Road all the way to Route 6. They will continue to the final location of the Youngsville Free United Methodist Church.

The motorcade is estimated to depart around 3:30-3:45 p.m. from Pittsburgh International Airport and be in Barkeyville by 5 p.m. The motorcade plans to rest for 30 minutes and be back on route by 5:30 p.m., traveling through Franklin at 6 p.m. The approximate arrival time to Titusville is 6:30 p.m. before ending in Youngsville around 7 p.m.

Glenn H. Hodak was born on March 17, 1922, in Cambridge Springs, Pa., to Peter Hodak and Queenie Jewell Hodak. He had nine siblings, Lucille, Anna, Park, Victor, Arnold, Stanley (infant), Everett (infant), Dorothy, and Donald, all of whom are deceased. Three brothers, Park, Victor, and Arnold all served during World War II the same time as Glenn, however in different venues. They all returned home safely. Donald served during the Korean War.

There are two living sisters-in-law, Sylvia (Arnold) Hodak and Pamela (Donald) Hodak. He is also survived by numerous nieces, and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and great-great-nieces and great-great-nephews.

Glenn Hodak entered the military service and served in the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) during World War II. On March 10, 1945, Cpl. Hodak served as a tail gunner aircrew member on board a B-29 Super fortress, nicknamed “Tall in the Saddle,” which was shot down on a mission to Tokyo, Japan. He was reported as missing in action. Investigators later learned that he was captured and imprisoned with two fellow airmen. They were held at the Tokyo Military Prison as a POW. When the US Army Air Forces launched one of the largest air raids of World War II on the night of May 25-26, 1945, the firestorm consumed the Tokyo Military Prison, killing all US POWs incarcerated there. The remains of the US POWs were not recovered or identified.

Visitation will be held on Monday, May 19, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Youngsville Free Methodist Church, 179 Davis St., in Youngsville, Pa., with a service following, with Pastor Rick Hamrick officiating. The Youngsville American Legion Honor Guard Post 658 will hold a ceremony after the service and serve as pallbearers at the church. Interment will be held at the Spring Creek Cemetery, Spring Creek, Pa., following the service, where members of the U.S. military funeral detail will provide full honors for Cpl. Hodak. The family extends an invitation to all veterans, service members and the public who would like to show their respect to Cpl. Hodak.