Pfc Dewey W Harris
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today Army Pfc. Dewey W. Harris, 23, of Cherryville, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for on April 16, 2019.
(This identification was initially published on April 23, 2019.)
In November 1944, Harris was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 14, 1944, after fierce combat in the Hürtgen Forest, near the village of Simonskall, in Germany. Due to ongoing combat operations and extensive land mines throughout the forest, American forces were unable to search for him. On Nov. 15, 1945, the War Department declared him deceased.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command extensively searched the Hürtgen Forest for Harris’ remains. Unable to make a correlation with any remains found in the area, his remains were declared non-recoverable.
In 1946, following demining operations, a set of remains was recovered from near where Harris was last seen alive. The remains, unable to be identified, were designated Unknown X-2702, and buried at United States Military Cemetery Neuville, present day Ardennes American Cemetery, in Belgium.
Based upon the original recovery location of X-2702, DPAA analysts determined that there was a likely association between the remains and Harris. In August 2018, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission disinterred X-2702 and accessioned the remains to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Harris’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
(This identification was initially published on April 23, 2019.)
In November 1944, Harris was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 14, 1944, after fierce combat in the Hürtgen Forest, near the village of Simonskall, in Germany. Due to ongoing combat operations and extensive land mines throughout the forest, American forces were unable to search for him. On Nov. 15, 1945, the War Department declared him deceased.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command extensively searched the Hürtgen Forest for Harris’ remains. Unable to make a correlation with any remains found in the area, his remains were declared non-recoverable.
In 1946, following demining operations, a set of remains was recovered from near where Harris was last seen alive. The remains, unable to be identified, were designated Unknown X-2702, and buried at United States Military Cemetery Neuville, present day Ardennes American Cemetery, in Belgium.
Based upon the original recovery location of X-2702, DPAA analysts determined that there was a likely association between the remains and Harris. In August 2018, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission disinterred X-2702 and accessioned the remains to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Harris’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.