WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. John A. Walko, 20, of Commodore, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 16, 2025.
Walko’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In 1944, Walko was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He was reportedly killed in action on Oct. 20 after his company encountered German enemy fire in Aachen, Germany. His remains were not accounted for after the war.
In November 1944, the American Graves Registration Command at the United States Military Cemetery Henri-Chapelle, Netherlands, processed a set of unknown remains, later designated X-99 Henri-Chapelle, belonging to an individual killed by mortar fire on Oct. 20, 1944. Due to the condition of the remains, they were unable to be positively identified at the time and were reinterred at USMC Henri-Chapelle.
In July 2023, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed X-99 Henri-Chepelle and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
To identify Walko’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis as well as material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial, Y chromosome, and autosomal DNA analysis.
Walko’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an ABMC 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.
Walko will be buried in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on May 20, 2026.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission for their partnership in this mission.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, https://www.linkedin.com/company/dodpaa, https://www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or https://x.com/dodpaa.
Walko’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001nzaJWEAY.
Walko’s initial ID announcement can be viewed at https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4270869/soldier-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-walko-j/.