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Sgt Gregory V. Knoll enlisted on 20 November 1942 at Pueblo, Colorado. He arrived in France on 22 July 1944.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 17 March 2023 that Sgt Gregory V. Knoll was accounted for on 3 January 2023.

In November 1944, Sgt Knoll was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His battalion had been tasked with capturing the town of Schmidt, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest. A heavy German counterattack overran his unit and forces survivors to withdraw to Kommerscheidt where they fought against additional enemy attacks. He was reported killed in action on 7 November 1944, while fighting enemy forces at Kommerscheidt. His remains could not be recovered after the attack.

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 but were unable to recover or identify Sgt Knoll’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1951.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-2519 Neuville, recovered at Kommerscheidt in April 1946, possibly belonged to Sgt Knoll. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery in 1949 were disinterred in July 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.

To identify Sgt Knoll’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), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Sgt Knoll’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery. A rosette was placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Sgt Knoll was buried on 7 July 2023 in Garden City, Kansas.