The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today
that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified
and are being buried with full military honors.
Army Pfc. Edward L. O’Toole, 23, of San Francisco, will be buried on July 15 in San
Bruno, Calif. On Nov. 20, 1944, O’Toole, as part of the 333rd Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry
Division, went missing near Süggerath while his unit conducted a largely successful offensive to
capture towns in Western Germany. In 1953, after an extensive search, his remains were
determined unrecoverable by U.S. Army Graves Registration personnel.
In 2009, a German citizen digging in a wooded area near Süggerath, discovered a grave
with remains from two individuals, military-related equipment and identification tags with the
name O’Toole.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the
JPAC laboratory also used dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died. At the
end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000
Americans. Today, more than 73,000 are unaccounted-for from the conflict.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing
Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.