Fallen American Soldier's Name Restored after Nearly 80 Years

amsterdam - A fallen American soldier, Jeremiah P. Mahoney, who perished in World War II, is finally getting his name back after almost 80 years.

The 19-year-old Mahoney fought in January 1945 with his anti-tank company near the village of Reipertswille, close to the French-German border. His company came under heavy German artillery and mortar fire during the German Ardennes offensive. Mahoney immediately started digging a foxhole.

"The shells were dropping everywhere," wrote a soldier from the company to Mahoney's mother in Chicago. "One landed very close, and a boy jumped on top of Mahoney in his foxhole. Then another shell exploded in a tree, and shrapnel rained down in the half-dug hole."

Soldier Mahoney did not survive the bombardment. His unit was forced to retreat, leaving his body behind. In 1946, with no evidence of Mahoney being captured by the Germans and his remains not recovered, the U.S. War Department issued a death certificate presuming his demise.

However, last month, the DPAA (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency) announced that soldier Mahoney's remains were identified. In 1947, a large number of remains, including Mahoney's, were found by a French demining unit in Reipertswiller. The U.S. army confirmed the discovery of 37 unidentified bodies. Mahoney's remains could not be identified back then due to the limited scientific methods available at that time.

In 2022, Mahoney's remains were exhumed and eventually identified through DNA samples from his family. "For the first time in my life, I felt a connection to my long-lost uncle whom I never knew," said 72-year-old Jerry Mannell, Mahoney's nephew, to The New York Times. "It brought me relief and closure. But there was also a sense of regret, as his immediate family could not experience this."

Mahoney is not the only soldier who ended up in an anonymous grave. There are still 8,500 unmarked American war graves from WWII. The fallen lie in military cemeteries under marble crosses bearing only 'Unknown.' Mahoney was one of them, buried in 1949 at the U.S. military cemetery in Neupré, Belgium. There are still 72,000 missing American soldiers from WWII whose fate remains unknown.

It was long believed that the 'unknown' soldiers in war graves would never be identified. However, improved identification techniques, mainly through DNA testing, have given many families hope. Mannell praises the DPAA, saying, "Kudos to the military for continuing this after more than 75 years. They truly do not leave a soldier behind."

Soldier Jeremiah P. Mahoney will be buried with military honors in the spring of 2025 at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, where the United States honors its military war dead.