WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Kenneth L. Carpenter, 22, of Westernport, Maryland, who was killed during World War II, was accounted for on June 18, 2026.
Carpenter’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the spring of 1944, Carpenter was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, in Italy. On May 23, Carpenter’s unit was fighting southwest of Cisterna di Littoria, attempting to clear out German forces in the area and secure the railroad leading into town. The battalion came under heavy fire from mortars, artillery, and automatic weapons. Carpenter was killed by artillery shell fragments during the fighting.
In November 1944, the American Graves Registration Service, the organization tasked with recovering missing American service members in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, recovered a set of unknown remains southwest of Cisterna di Littoria, later designated X-646 Nettuno, that could not be identified. American officials interred X-646 as an Unknown at what is now Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in September 1948.
In September 1947, AGRS investigators scoured the battles sites and interviewed local officials around Cisterna di Littoria, but could not find Carpenter or any information about the disposition of his remains. He was declared non-recoverable on Sept. 20, 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting a comprehensive research and recovery effort focused on American Soldiers missing from ground combat in Italy. They determined X-646 was most likely associated with an unaccounted-for Soldier from the 3rd Infantry Division. Carpenter was on the list of potential candidates. In September 2021, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission disinterred X-646 and transferred them to the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis.
To identify Carpenter’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and dental analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis and mitochondrial genome sequencing data.
Carpenter’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Nettuno, Italy, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Carpenter will be buried in Flinstone, Maryland, on a date yet to be determined.
For family and funeral information, call the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
For additional information on the War 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.
Carpenter’s personnel profile can be viewed at: https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XeDgEAK.