Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Barrow, P.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. Pearl F. Barrow, 36, of Wichita, Kansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for Jan. 9, 2020.

In November 1944, Barrow was assigned to Company F, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, when he was reported as killed in action on Nov. 20. Because of the fighting, his body was unable to be recovered.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify Barrow’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in December 1951.

In 2017, while studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains found in 1948 possibly belonged to Barrow. A business card with “Guaranteed Roofing Co., 832 Indiana” had been found with the remains. While Barrow was not from Indiana, the address listed for his wife in his Report of Death was 832 Indiana, Wichita, Kansas. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery in 1950, were disinterred in August 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.

To identify Barrow’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Barrow’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission 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.

Barrow will be buried in his hometown. The date has 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 Defense 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.

Barrow’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XfKzEAK.