WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dayton Polvado, 29, of Round Mountain, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for Oct. 10, 2025.
Polvado's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In late 1944, Polvado was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division. His battalion was engaged in combat near Pachten, Germany, when he was killed in action on Dec. 12. His body could not be recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces. As American forces began to withdraw from the area, many casualties were nonrecoverable due to continued German resistance. He was not accounted for after the war.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) searched for missing American personnel in the European theater, but none of the remains found could be associated with Polvado. In 1946, an AGRC team recovered five sets of unknown, buried alongside each other in a small cemetery in Pachten, Germany. The remains were sent to the AGRC Central Identification Point at St. Avold, France, where they were found to be comingled and consisted of six individuals. Only two were identified and the remaining four were buried as Unknowns. Polvado was declared non-recoverable.
In 2021, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), exhumed the unknown remains and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Polvado’s 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 analysis and nuclear single nucleotide polymorphism testing.
Polvado’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, 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.
Polvado will be buried in his hometown on a date yet to be determined.
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 War 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.
Polvado’s personnel profile can be viewed at Staff Sgt. DAYTON POLVADO - Service Member Profile.
Read Polvado's initial ID announcement here: Polvado.