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Pfc Clarence W. Brotherton is remembered at the Drummer Township Cemetery in Gibson City, Ford County, Illinois.

He was officially declared dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action.

On 2 July 1951, an investigation was conducted in the vicinity of Germeter, in an effort to recover the remains of four U.S soldiers, S/Sgt Raymond G. Blanton, Pfc Clarence W. Brotherton, Pvt Walter H. Reuter Jr. and Pfc Leslie E. Shankles, reported missing in action in the area on 14 October 1944. Information indicated that these man were members of C Company, 60th Infantry Regiment, which had the mission of destroying two enemy pill boxes in the Raffelsbrand Forest. during this engagement heavy enemy artillery, mortar and small arms fire was encountered and after the mission was accomplished, these men were missing. A search of the area could not be made at that time, due to continued enemy activity and it could not be determined wheter these men were killed in action or were taken prisoner. A visit was made to the head of the German demining team who worked in the area. This man stated that his team had swept part of the section and that another team had swept the other part. After talking to several team members, the investigation team learned that eight casualties were recovered during these demining operations. Two of these remains bore German identification tags. The other six were unknowns and were presumably buried in a German military cemetery as unknown German soldiers. Also a sweep of the area in question was made. This proves exceedingly difficult as the entire region was overgrown with bush, meeds and wild blackberry and thorn bushes to a height of three to five feet. The search did not have any result. Also the demolished bunkers in the area were searched with negative results.

On 27 April 2020 the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Pfc Clarence W. Brotherton was accounted for.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Raffelsbrand area, a DPAA historian determined that one of two sets of unidentified remains, designated X-4491 Neuville and X-4492 Neuville, recovered comingled from Raffelsbrand sector of the Hürtgen Forest near Germeter in 1946, possibly were linked to Brotherton. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery in 1950, were disinterred in September 2017 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.

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

Pfc Brotherton’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margarten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette was placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Clarence Brotherton has been given his final resting place at at Drummer Township Cemetery in his hometown on 7 September 2021.