Remains of teen U.S. soldiers killed in WWII identified 80 years later
Story by Kerry Breen • 21h •
Military labs identify long-fallen soldiers
The remains of two American soldiers who were killed during World War II have been identified, U.S. Army officials said Wednesday.
U.S. Army Sgt. Jack Zarifian and U.S. Army Private Rodger D. Andrews were both 19 years old when they died in combat in Europe, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said.
Zarifian, from Bridgeport, Connecticut, was killed while fighting with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division near Buchhof, Germany. Fierce fighting took place, the DPAA said in a news release, and Zarifian was reported killed in action after he was struck by a rocket on April 6, 1945. His body could not be recovered due to the fighting, and his remains were not accounted for during or after the war.
After the war ended, the American Graves Registration Command worked to bring home the remains of fallen soldiers, and several recovery teams went to Buchhof as part of those efforts. Several U.S. soldiers who had been buried in the town's cemetery had been exhumed shortly after the war, but Zarifian's remains weren't among them. His name was recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Lorraine American Cemetery in France.
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