HILL CITY, Kan. (AP) — The remains of a Kansas man who died through Planet War II in Germany have been identified and will be returned to his native state for burial later this year.

The physique of U.S. Army Sgt. Gregory V. Knoll 22, of Hill City. was identified in January but his family members was only lately received a complete briefing, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Friday.

Knoll was assigned to Organization M, 3rd Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. In November 1944, his battalion was overrun by German forces as they attempted to capture Schmidt, Germany, in the Hurtgen Forest.

Survivors of the attack withdrew to Kommerscheidt, exactly where Knoll was reported killed in action on Nov. 7, 1944.

The American Graves Registration Command carried out numerous investigations in the Hürtgen region among 1946 and 1950 but had been unable to obtain or recognize Knoll’s remains.

A DPAA historian later determined a single set of unidentified remains recovered at Kommerschedt in April 1946 possibly belonged to Knoll. The remains had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium in 1949.

They had been disinterred in July 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, exactly where scientists applied DNA and other evaluation to recognize Knoll’s remains

Knoll will be buried on July 7 in Garden City.

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