Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
AKERS, Joseph - Date of
birth
29 September 1921 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Wayne, Wayne County, West Virginia -
Hometown
Kenova, Wayne County, West Virginia
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
35432212 -
Rank
Corporal -
Function
unknown -
Unit
C Company,
803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
25 November 1944 - Place of
death
Grosshau, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten -
Walls of the Missing
* This soldier has been accounted for. A rosette has been placed next to his name.
Immediate family
-
Members
Flemon J. Akers (father)
Rebecca S. (Braley) Akers (mother)
Violet Akers (sister)
Lowell Akers (brother)
Delaine Akers (brother)
Grady Akers (brother)
Mildred Akers (sister)
Frances Akers (sister)
Margeret Akers (sister)
Thelma Akers (sister)
John Akers (brother)
More information
Joseph Akers worked on the family farm.On 25 November 1944, Aker's tank destroyer took a direct hit. There were five men in the tank of which three were killed and two escaped. When the unit returned to the site two days after the attack, they found the burned out shell of the tank destroyer, but there were no bodies inside or out.
In 1947, an American investigation team found remains inside the remnants of an American tank destroyer near Grosshau. The remains were later designated X-6852 Neuville. Due to the condition of the remains, they were declared unidentifiable and were interred at United States Military Cemetery Draguignan, France, present-day Rhone American Cemetery.
After thorough research and historical analysis, historians from DPAA determined that Akers was a strong candidate for association to the remains. In June 2017, X-6852 Neuville was disinterred and sent to DPAA.
To identify Akers’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, and circumstantial evidence.
On 24 May 2018 the Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that the remains of Cpl Joseph Akers were found and identified.
A rosette is placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cpl Akers now has his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, Nicole Sproncken, www.tankdestroyersociety.com, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census US, www.geni.com, www.fold3.com - WWII Draft Card, www.dpaa.mil
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Hans Wijnands, Together We Served