DAYTON, Tenn. (AP) — The remains of a soldier killed during World War II are returning to Tennessee.
Army Pvt. Warren G.H. DeVault will be buried Saturday at Spence Cemetery following a funeral service in Dayton.
The 24-year-old was reportedly killed in action near Hurtgen, Germany, on Nov. 20, 1944, but his remains could not be recovered because of ongoing fighting, the Army said last week. He was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.
A historian studying losses in the Hurtgen area determined that remains recovered from the Hurtgen Forest in 1947 possibly belonged to DeVault. They had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery in 1951 and were disinterred in 2019 and sent to Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains using DNA and other means last September.
DeVault’s name is on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed by his name to indicate he has been accounted for.