Remains of World War II Soldier buried in Exeter, Rhode Island

Courtesy Photo | The remains of Army Pfc. George B. Thomas, a Soldier killed during World War II, were buried July 10 in Exeter, Rhode Island. Thomas’ unit, Company C, 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, was engaged in battle with German forces near Huertgen, Germany, in the Huertgen Forest, when he was reported missing in action Nov. 24, 1944. He was 31 years old.  

FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

07.13.2023

Story by Fonda Bock 

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

The remains of Army Pfc. George B. Thomas, a Soldier killed during World War II, will be interred July 10 at Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Exeter, Rhode Island. Rebello Funeral Home and Crematory, East Providence, Rhode Island, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.

A native of East Providence, Thomas was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Huertgen, Germany, in the Huertgen Forest, in the fall of 1944 when he was reported missing in action Nov. 24, 1944, at age 31. His body was not recovered during the battle, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a finding of death for Thomas of Nov. 25, 1945.

The American Graves Registration Command – tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe – conducted several investigations in the Huertgen area between 1946 and 1950 but were unable to identify Thomas’ remains. He was declared nonrecoverable Feb. 21, 1951.

Years later, a historian with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency determined that one of two sets of unidentified comingled remains, designated X-7192 Neuville and X-7193 Neuville could be associated with Thomas. The remains were, previously recovered together in 1948 from a field south of Huertgen and then were later buried in 1950 in Ardennes American Cemetery. The remains were disinterred July 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis and identification.

Thomas was accounted for by the DPAA March 20, 2023, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence as well as anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.

His name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site, in Hombourg, Belgium, 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 Pfc. Thomas, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3440153/soldier-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-thomas-g/

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 Rebello Funeral Home and Crematory, [phone].


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• Date Taken: 07.13.2023
• Date Posted: 07.13.2023 12:32
• Story ID: 449126
• Location: FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US