WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Leon R. Karwacki, 27, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 26, 2024.
Karwacki's family recently received their full briefing on is identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1944, Karwacki was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Division. In mid-September 1944, his battalion advanced against enemy forces around Stolberg, Germany, between Aachen and the Hürtgen Forest. He was killed on Sept. 17, during an attack near the village of Mausbach. Karwacki’s body could not be recovered due to the intensity of enemy fire.
In late 1945, American graves registration personnel recovered a set of American remains between Mausbach and the town of Werth. Unable to identify the remains, officials designated them X-2192 and the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) subsequently interred them at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Belgium.
In June 2024, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) exhumed unidentified remains X-2192. DPAA historians and analysts researching the battles near Mausbach believed these remains could belong to Karwacki. The remains were then sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Karwacki’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological evidence, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Karwacki’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Karwacki will be buried in Milwaukee, Wiscosin in September 2025.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission and to the U.S. Army Regional Mortuary-Europe/Africa for their partnership in this mission.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.
Read Karwacki's initial ID announcement here: Karwacki.