Dewey Wilbur Harris

Pfc Dewey W. Harris enlisted in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri on 4 September 1942. | | He was offcially declared dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action. | | The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 10 June 2019 that Pfc. Dewey W. Harris was accounted for on 16 April 2019. | | 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. | | Funeral arrangements are pending (June 2019). | | Pfc Harris is also remembered at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri.