A soldier from Chicago was killed in a WWII attack launched on New Year’s Eve 1944. He’s finally been accounted for.
A 19-year-old soldier who was killed during World War II has been accounted for, military officials said Thursday.
U.S. Army Pvt. Jeremiah P. Mahoney was assigned to an anti-tank company in Europe during the war, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release. Maroney, originally from Chicago, was part of the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division.
Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve in 1944, German forces launched a major offensive in the mountains of Alsace-Lorraine, France, surging over Allied defenses along the border of France and Germany, U.S. officials said. The offensive turned into a massive battle stretching over 40 miles. The battle raged for weeks, with Mahoney’s unit resupplying and reinforcing his regiment near the French village of Reipertswiller.
Scientists used multiple forms of DNA testing, as well as anthropological and circumstantial evidence, to study the remains.
On May 6, 2024, the DPAA positively identified the remains as Mahoney’s.
A rosette has been placed beside his name on the Walls of the Missing to indicate that he has been accounted for. His remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on a date to be determined, the DPAA said.
Kerry Breen
Source: cbsnews.com