Memorial

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Pfc Willard Jenkins worked as a roofer or slater.

He enlisted in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on 16 June 1942.

During the Waal River Crossing of H and I of the 504th PIR, C Company of the 307th AEB was assigned to furnish three men to man each assault boat. He was reported missing during this crossing. According to historical reports, he operated the rudder of one of the boats and was wounded in the chest by fire, before falling overboard. Because the area downstream of the river was controlled by enemy forces, a search could not be conducted.

Following the end of hostilities, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, was charged with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel interred in temporary American cemeteries in the European Theater of Operations during and after World War II. Jenkins’ remains were not found in any Allied cemeteries, nor in any towns bordering the Waal River, where Jenkins was lost. On 15 August 1950, Jenkins was declared non-recoverable.

According to historical records, on 19 September 1944, two residents of Werkendam, the Netherlands were in a rowboat on the Waal River when they saw a body in the river. German soldiers stationed nearby took possession of the remains and buried them on the riverbank.

In late August 1948, an investigator from the AGRC visited the Werkendam area and inquired about the remains. The AGRC learned that a person of the Information Bureau for missing English flyers had been to Werkendam to examine the remains and determined them to be of American nationality, and had them moved to Werkendam General Cemetery. The remains were disinterred on 17 September 1948 and sent to the Identification Section at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, for further analysis. The remains could not be identified and were buried as Unknown X-7838 Neuville on 1 October 1948.

After thorough research and historical analysis, historians from DPAA determined that Jenkins was a strong candidate for association to the remains. On 18 April 2018, X-7838 Neuville was disinterred and sent to DPAA.

To identify Jenkins’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. He was accounted for on 3 July 2018.

On 16 September 2018 a rosette was placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

He was given his final resting place in his hometown at Abington Hills Cemetery on 26 September 2018 with full military honors. His only still living sister Edna attended the funeral.