Remains of World War II Soldier to be buried in San Diego

Courtesy Photo | The remains of World War II Soldier Tech Sgt. Matthew L. McKeon will be interred May 23, at Miramar National Cemetery, San Diego. McKeon was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was reported killed in action Nov. 9, 1944, at age 25.  

FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

05.18.2023

Story by Fonda Bock 

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of a Soldier killed during World War II will be interred May 23, at Miramar National Cemetery, San Diego. Graveside services for Army Tech Sgt. Matthew L. McKeon will be performed by Miramar Memorial Services preceding the interment.

A native of Euclid, California, McKeon was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Hürtgen, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, when he was reported killed in action Nov. 9, 1944, at age 25. His remains could not be recovered during the battle.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command, tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe, conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950 but were unable to identify McKeon’s remains. He was declared nonrecoverable Dec. 15, 1950.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a historian with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-4458 Neuville, recovered near the town of Hürtgen in 1946, possibly belonged to a service member missing from combat in November 1944. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery in 1950, were disinterred in June 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.

McKeon was accounted for by the DPAA Jan. 12, 2023, after his remains were identified using dental, anthropological, mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA analysis.

His name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site, in Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information about Tech Sgt. McKeon, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3331046/soldier-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-mckeon-m/

To learn more about the Department of Defense’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call [phone]/1169.

Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at [phone] and/or Miramar Memorial Services, 858-566-9100.


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• Date Taken: 05.18.2023
• Date Posted: 05.18.2023 08:04
• Story ID: 445000
• Location: FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US