UTICA, N.Y. (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – On June 7th, 1944, Lieutenant Myles Esmay of Utica was killed in action in the jungles of Burma. He was leading his company battalion in action against the Japanese when he was killed from the explosion of a Japanese hand grenade. He was just 27 years old at the time of his death.
Esmay was a graduate of Utica Free Academy, where he was a very active and popular student. After his years at U.F.A, he went to work at Camden wire. He received a scholarship to attend the State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, where he graduated with honors.
In December of 1940, Myles enlisted in the U.S. Army and became the first person from Utica to be accepted into the Army Air Cadet Program. The battle in which he was killed, lasted three days. He died on the third.
His fellow soldiers who fell in battle, including those unidentified, were buried in eight various temporary cemeteries. Esmay was among them. Through the ongoing efforts of the U.S. Military, the body of Myles Esmay was identified on May 25, 2021.
Lieutenant Myles Esmay will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on a date yet to be determined.
