Memorial

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T/Sgt Leonard J. Dettloff was wounded on D Day and told he would not have to fight again. He volunteered to go back.

He was killed in action by schrapnel on 10 November 1944 but, due to the tactical situation, his remains could not be immediately recovered.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command 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 Dettloff’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in October 1951.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-8118 St. Avold, recovered from Germeter and Hürtgen possibly belonged to Dettloff. The remains, which had been buried in Lorraine American Cemetery in 1949, were disinterred in 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification. While analyzing X-8118, DPAA scientists also examined X-8122 St. Avold, had been recovered commingled with X-8118.

To identify Dettloff’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) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

Dettloff’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Margraten Cemetery. A rosette has been placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Dettloff will be buried in Holly, Michigan on a date to be determined (information added October 2023).