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Pfc Oscar E. Sappington enlisted in Tulsa, Oklahoma on 10 January 1944.

On 10 January 1945, the 309th Infantry launched a number of attacks in the Hürtgen Forest of Germany. His company attempted to capture two hills near the Raffelsbrand sector of the forest. Enemy gunfire and artillery strikes forced the Americans to fall back. The following day, reinforcements led the attack on the hills, also sustaining heavy losses. At some point during the two days of fighting, Sappington was mortally wounded. Because no soldiers from his unit could confirm his death, he was reported missing in action as of 11 January 1945.

In 1947, a German woodcutter found a set of remains that were subsequently recovered by the American Graves Registration Command. Unable to identify the remains, they were buried as Unknown, and designated X-5396.

After the war, the American Graves Registration Command extensively investigated the Hürtgen Forest, but could find no evidence leading to the recovery of Sappington’s remains. Unable to make a correlation with remains found in 1947, he was declared non-recoverable on 10 December 1951.

In 2016, a historian from DPAA conducted a study of combat records and unresolved American losses in the Raffelsbrand sector of the Hürtgen Forest. During this effort, the historian determined that the X-5396 remains had been recovered in the 309th Infantry combat zone and recommended that officials disinter the remains for scientific comparison to Pfc Sappington. Based off of that research, and a thorough scientific review of the biological and dental records, DPAA and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed X-5396 in June 2017 and transferred the remains to DPAA.

To identify Sappington’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, as well as anthropological, dental and chest radiograph comparison analysis, and material evidence.

On 1 May 2018 the Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that the remains of Pfc. Oscar E. Sappington were found and identified. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

He was given his final resting place in Tulsa, Oklahoma on 9 June 2018.