Memorial

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Pfc Dewey W. Harris enlisted in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri on 4 September 1942.

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

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 10 June 2019 that Pfc. Dewey W. Harris was accounted for on 16 April 2019.

After the war, the American Graves Registration Command extensively searched the Hürtgen Forest for Harris’ remains. Unable to make a correlation with any remains found in the area, his remains were declared non-recoverable.

In 1946, following demining operations, a set of remains was recovered from near where Harris was last seen alive. The remains, unable to be identified, were designated Unknown X-2702, and buried at United States Military Cemetery Neuville, present day Ardennes American Cemetery, in Belgium.

Based upon the original recovery location of X-2702, DPAA analysts determined that there was a likely association between the remains and Harris. In August 2018, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission disinterred X-2702 and accessioned the remains to the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Harris’ 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.

Funeral arrangements are pending (June 2019).

Pfc Harris is also remembered at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri.