New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Missing for 75 years, CT soldier’s remains found
NORWALK — After over 75 years, one of Norwalk’s own is coming home.
Army Staff Sgt. Louis Doddo was only 30 when he was killed while serving in World War II, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. His division was attacked by Japanese soldiers on July 7, 1944, on the island of Saipan.
Doddo’s parents found out he was missing via a telegram from the War Department to their Neptune Avenue home the following month. The following July, the Army declared him dead. A Mass was held at St. Joseph’s Church that September in Doddo’s honor, shortly after his parents found out of his death, but the body was never found.
That is until Nov. 3 of this year. Seventy-five years after he was declared dead, the DPAA through DNA analysis was able to identify Doddo’s body, which will return to Norwalk for burial next spring.
For many years, no one knew for sure what became of Doddo, who was known as a talented musician and passionate ball player. He often attended parties with friends and played gigs at the Depot Restaurant near the South Norwalk Train Station, according to newspaper articles from the time. The story about his disappearance described him as a “well known saxophone player,” and other clips show he was part of Hugh Golden’s band, known as “an aggregation of clever musicians and snappy rhythm makers” who were popular around Connecticut.
Doddo also played baseball and was a member of the East Norwalk Eagles softball team. He was a carpenter by trade before joining the Army in 1941. He went overseas for the first time in 1942 and was stationed in Hawaii and Saipan.
After WWII ended, the American Graves Registration Service returned to the Pacific theater in an effort to identify fallen service members, per the DPAA. Unidentified remains were buried in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines on March 30, 1950.
As time went on and technology advanced, historians were able to analyze DNA to account for more fallen soldiers. And on Dec. 6, 2018, the remains of a soldier dubbed Unknown X-26 were disinterred from Manila and sent to the DPPA at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis. Unknown X-26 ended up being Doddo.
A rosette will now be placed next to Doddo’s name on the Courts of the Missing atNational Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu to indicate he has been accounted for, the DPPA said.
Norwalk has honored Doddo for his service over the years, including at an event last August to commemorate the 119 Purple Heart recipients from the city and on Oct. 4 at the Frank C. Godfrey American Legion Post 12 event honoring Norwalk’s Missing In Action, according to Jeff DeWitt, finance officer for Post 12.
DeWitt, a a retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant who also serves as chairman for the Norwalk Military & Veterans Liaison Committee and Quartermaster/Adjutant of Mulvoy-Tarlov-Aquino VFW Post 603 in Norwalk, stumbled across Doddo while doing research for his website dedicated to Norwalk residents killed while serving in wars. DeWitt began the website about two years ago to learn about those lost, as well as educate others.
According to DeWitt, there’s still about 46 people from Norwalk still unaccounted for.
“I would love to see them all come home,” DeWitt said. “There’s a credo in the service that no man is left behind. Everybody comes home. ... The significance of that is to be able to give the family closure and honor them with full military honors for the sacrifice they paid for the country. Everybody who’s ever served understands that.”
Doddo’s family said they plan to hold a ceremony for him in the spring when it’s safer to travel.