Memorial

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Pvt Archie V. Fleeman enlisted in Los Angeles, California at on 6 April 1943.

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

His unit was part of the Hürtgen Forest offensive, near Hürtgen, Germany, where he was serving as a stretcher bearer for wounded troops. He was reported missing in action on 11 November 1944. German forces never listed him as a prisoner of war.

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 Fleeman’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in September 1951.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-8117 St. Avold, originally discovered by a German team clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance from the woods in 1946, possibly belonged to Fleeman. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, were disinterred in August 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.

To identify Fleeman’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.

Fleeman’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Fleeman will be buried in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The date has yet to be decided (November 2021).