(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — U.S. Army Pvt. Myron Williams, of Dixon, Ill., was 29 when he was reported missing in action in November 1944 after his unit fought against German forces in the Hürtgen Forest.
The War Department, unable to recover Williams’ body and with no record of him being taken prisoner, issued a “presumptive finding of death.” By 1951, his remains were declared as “non-recoverable.”
Almost 75 years after the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, though, a historian with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), who was studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, discovered unidentified remains.
The remains were dug up in April 2019 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
Through dental records and DNA, the remains were identified as a match to Williams. He was officially accounted for on July 13, 2022, but the family only recently received the full briefing.
Officials said Williams’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery. Now that he’s been accounted for, a rosette will be placed next to his name.
Williams will be buried in Killeen, Texas. The date has not yet been determined.
Related
Listen to our new podcast Courier Pigeon
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!