MIA WW2 soldiers' remains sought; 1 ID'd

BERLIN, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The remains of a U.S. soldier missing since one of World War II's deadliest battles in Germany have been identified and a team is looking for more missing GIs.

Defense officials said in a statement Tuesday the remains of Army Pvt. James W. Turner of Altus, Okla., will be buried Thursday in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.

Turner, a member of G Company, 112th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division, was reported missing in action near Vossenack, Germany, Nov. 4, 1944, while the unit fought German forces in the Hurtgen Forest, the Defense Department said.

In 2005, a German citizen looking for wartime relics in the forest found human remains and other items, including Turner's military identification tag. They were turned over to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command for analysis, which ultimately confirmed them as those of Turner.

A team is sifting through soil looking for bone fragments of other servicemen killed in the fighting, including those of a pilot from Texas, Der Spiegel reported.

The U.S. Army lost between 22,000 and 32,000 men in a series of battles in the Hurtgen Forest between September 1944 and February 1945. Many of the bodies were never recovered and were either hastily buried or dismembered by animals.

While MIAs from Vietnam have received more publicity, there were far more during World War II -- about 78,000.