Courtesy of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
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Francis P. Martin was just 25 years old when his convoy was ambushed in France in 1945.
After many long years, Martin has finally been accounted for, as of June 21, 2022.
According to a release from Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA):
Martin was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry division in early January, 1945. His unit had broken their Axis lines near Reipertswiller, France, leaving its flanks exposed to German forces. On Jan. 16, Martin was part of a truck convoy assigned to bring rations to the front lines. The convoy was ambushed and Martin was unaccounted for.
Germans surrounded the 157th over the coming days, putting an end to any recovery attempts. There was evidence to indicate Martin was held as a prisoner of war, but on Jan. 17, the following year, the War Department issued a finding of death.
Beginning in 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) started searching for and recovering fallen American personnel in the European Theater. They found 37 sets of unidentified American remains but were unable to identify any of them as Martin. He was declared non-recoverable on Oct. 15, 1951.
DPAA historians, however, have continued conducting research – as technology evolved – into soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found Unknown X-6373 Neuville, an unidentified soldier buried at Henri-Chappelle American Cemetery near Leige, Belgium, could potentially be associated with Martin.
The remains were disinterred in August 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
Scientists there were able to identify Martin using dental and anthropological analysis. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also analyzed the remains using DNA analysis.
Martin will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on a to-be-determined date. His name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to Martin’s name, indicating that after all this time, he has been accounted for.