Washington –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Bartholomew C. Loschiavo, 24, of Buffalo, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for April 2, 2024.
In October 1944, Loschiavo was assigned to Company A, 329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division in the European Theater. On October 1, Loschiavo was killed in action while his unit engaged German troops near Grevenmacher, Luxembourg. A witness during the battle reported Loschiavo was struck by an enemy mortar shell, injuring his legs and abdomen. While trying to reach cover, he rolled off a terrace and disappeared into cluster of grapevines. Following the battle, company medics went back to render aid but could not locate any remains of Pfc. Loschiavo. His body remained unaccounted for during, and after the war.
On February 25, 1946, American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) recovered one set of Unknown remains, designated X-323 Hamm (X-323) from the Grevenmacher village cemetery. Local residents claimed to have discovered and buried the remains in April 1945. AGRC investigators analyzed the remains, but despite their efforts were unable to make a scientific identification at the time and they were interred in the Luxembourg American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Hamm, Luxembourg.
In 2020, the family of Loschiavo contacted DPAA to ask analysts to evaluate if X-323 might be his remains. Due to the incomplete documentation of X-323, DPAA historians had to conduct a comprehensive review of combat, including all unresolved casualties in the area where the remains were reportedly found. DPAA scientific staff then compared the biological profile data for all potential candidates to the data on file for the remains, finding that Loschiavo and two other soldiers were the most likely candidates. Following that multi-disciplinary analysis, in 2021 DPAA proposed X-323 for disinterment. That proposal was approved in July 2022, which unfortunately was too late for DPAA to add X-323 to its disinterment schedule that year.
In July 2023, the Department of Defense and ABMC officials exhumed the remains of X-323 for forensic analysis and comparison to unresolved American Soldiers in the area. The remains were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
To identify Loschiavo’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph comparisons. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Pfc. Loschiavo’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Luxembourg American Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc. Loschiavo will be buried in Buffalo, New York, on June 1, 2024.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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 or find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.