Memorial

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Pvt Kwack K. Woo arrived in the U.S. as a student on 11 June 1939.

In November 1944, Pvt Woo was wounded in action by artillery shell fragments in the thigh. After recovering, he rejoined his unit.

His regiment was engaged in fierce fighting near the town of Biesdorf, Germany, when he was reported killed in action by small arms fire on 9 February 1945. His body was unable to be recovered due to intense fighting against heavily reinforced German forces on an elevated position. Despite various recovery attempts, Woo’s remains were not accounted for during or after the war.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. In 1951, remains were recovered from a wooded area southeast of Biesdorf. Remnants of military clothing, an American helmet and ammunition were found, but no identification tags or personal effects were located. The remains were designated X-8517 Neuville and interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Tunisia, known today as the North Africa American Cemetery.

In September 2022, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel exhumed X-8517 Neuville for forensic analysis and comparison with unresolved soldiers known to have been lost in the Biesdorf conflict area. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Woo’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and dental analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and Autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

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

Pvt Woo was given his final resting place in Agawam, Massachusetts on 28 September 2024.