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The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Sgt John W. Radanovich, was accounted for on 11 May 2023.

In November 1944, Radanovich was assigned to G Company, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His rifle platoon was engaged in battle with German forces near the town of Grosshau, in the Hürtgen Forest, Germany when he was reported missing in action on 1 December 1944. Despite continued progress against German fighting positions, many soldiers were killed along the Company G battle line. The Germans never reported Radanovich as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not immediately recovered. The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death on 2 December 1945.

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. None of the remains recovered during that time were identified as Radanovich.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen Forest, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-2754A Neuville, recovered near Grosshau in 1946 possibly belonged to Radanovich. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, were disinterred in June 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

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

Radanovich’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Margraten American Cemetery. A rosette is placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Radanovich will be buried in Mount Olive, Illinois on a date yet to be determined (information added July 2023).