Three More Accounted For

Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency

Soldier Accounted for from WWII

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Woodrow F. Gerdes

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Woodrow F. Gerdes, 31, of St. Louis, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 25, 2023.

In November 1944, Gerdes was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His battalion had been tasked with advancing on the enemy within the Raffelsbrand, near the town of Germeter, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest. During intense fighting and heavy artillery fire, Gerdes was reported missing in action on Nov. 9. German forces never reported him as a prisoner of war, nor did U.S. Army officials learn any details of his fate. With no evidence that he survived the fighting, Army officials eventually determined he was killed in action.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to account for Gerdes’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1951.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-4507 Neuville, recovered from a foxhole near Raffelsbrand in April 1947, possibly belonged to Gerdes. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1949, were disinterred in June 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Gerdes’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Gerdes’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Gerdes will be buried in St. Louis, Missouri, on a date to be determined.

 

Soldier Accounted for from WWII

U.S. Army Army Staff Sgt. Robert G, Rudd

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Army Staff Sgt. Robert G, Rudd, 34, of Gatesville, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for June 20, 2022.

In the early fall of 1944, Rudd was assigned to Company C, 38^th Infantry Regiment, 2D Infantry Division. On Jan. 30, Rudd was killed during the Battle of the Bulge when his company attacked heavily fortified enemy forces near the town of Rocherath, Belgium. Due to intense fighting and fierce artillery shelling, Rudd’s body was unrecoverable and the War Department a Report of Death on Feb. 20, 1945.

In 2017, after reviewing information provided by Belgian and American researchers, DPAA historians analyzed evidence related to several sets of remains initially recovered by Belgian locals in the Elsenbuchel Forest that had been interred at what is now the Ardennes American Cemetery in 1949, including unknown remains X-3144 Neuville. Following an interdisciplinary analysis by DPAA historical and scientific staff, the X-3144 remains were disinterred from Ardennes American Cemetery in 2021 for comparison with a list of candidates including Rudd.

To identify Rudd’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and dental records. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Rudd’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Rudd will be buried in Belton, Texas, on a date to be determined.

 

Soldier Accounted for from WWII

U.S. Army Pvt. 1^st Class Henry C. Wade

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1^st Class Henry C. Wade, 24, of Decatur, Kentucky, killed during World War II, was accounted for May 11, 2023.

In November 1944, Wade was assigned to Company K, 3d Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, as an infantryman. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near the Germeter-Hürtgen Road where they encountered heavy resistance. Fighting raged for several days, during which Wade was killed in action. Due to the tactical situation his remains were not immediately recovered. He was declared non-recoverable December 1951.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen Forest area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-4462 Neuville, possibly belonged to an American soldier killed near the town of Hürtgen in November 1944, such as Wade. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, in 1949, were disinterred in June 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Wade’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Wade’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margarten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Wade will be buried Nov. 29, 2023, in Russell Springs, Kentucky.

DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission and to the U.S. Army Regional Mortuary-Europe/Africa for their partnership in this mission.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, and find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.

Category: No Longer Missing