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. William F. Stehlin, 27, of Dayton, Ky., will be buried on August 11 in
Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. On Nov. 20, 1944, Stehlin, 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 1951, 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 the remains of two individuals, military-related equipment and identification tags.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command laboratory also used dental comparisons in the
identification of the remains. The other individual, Pfc. Edward L. O’Toole, was identified and
buried on July 15 in San Bruno, Calif.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died.
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.