Soldiers from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) Caisson Platoon, and the U.S. Army Band, “Pershing’s Own” conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Army Pfc. Francis P. Martin in Section 81 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., March 24, 2023. Martin was killed on January 16, 1945, while serving in France during World War II.

From the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) press release:

In January 1945, Martin was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. The unit had penetrated the German lines near Reipertswiller, France, which left its flanks open to German forces. On Jan. 16, Martin was on a truck convoy bringing rations to the front lines. The convoy was ambushed, and Martin was not among the men who escaped. Over the next few days, the Germans surrounded the 157th forces, preventing any search for Martin or the recovery of his body. With no evidence in captured German records that he survived the ambush or was held as a prisoner of war, the War Department issued a finding of death on Jan. 17, 1946.

Beginning in 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Reipertswiller, finding 37 unidentified sets of American remains, but it was unable to identify any of them as Martin. He was declared non-recoverable on Oct. 15, 1951.

DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found that Unknown X-6373 Neuville, buried at Henri-Chappelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site near Liège, Belgium, could be associated with Martin. X-6373 was disinterred in August 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.

To identify Martin’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Martin was officially accounted for on June 21, 2022. Erin Alverson, Martin’s granddaughter, received the U.S. flag from Martin’s funeral service.

(U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)