Remains of 19-year-old World War II soldier identified

A soldier who gave his life for his country has finally been identified 76 years after he was killed in action.

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The man whose remains were unidentified for more than seven decades was Pfc. John J Sitarz, 19, of Weirton, West Virginia, according to a press release from Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

His remains were accounted for last year; however, DPAA just released the information this week.

Sitarz was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 100th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division and was fighting against the Germans in Germeter, Germany, in late 1944.

He was marked as missing in action on Nov. 2, 1944, and a year later, was marked as killed in action because he could not be recovered due to fighting in the area, DPAA said.

Between 1946 and 1950, the American Graves Registration Command tried to find missing American military members in Europe but were never able to find Sitarz’s body. In 1951, he was declared non-recoverable.

A historian looking at records realized remains from a minefield near Germeter recovered in 1946 could be those of Sitarz.

The body, designated X-2785 Neuville, had been buried at Ardennes American Cemetery in 1949. In 2018, they were disinterred and scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used DNA analysis to match the remains with Sitarz, according to DPAA.

Since he was positively identified, his name, which is on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium, will have a rosette added saying he’s no longer missing and unidentified.

His remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

For more on those missing in action and the efforts put names to the remains, click here.

To see other members of the military who were connected with Sitarz, click here.

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