The remains of a New Bedford man who was killed during World War II have been accounted for, according to U.S. Department of Defense.

 

The POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Tuesday that the remains of U.S. Army Pfc. William Gervais Jr., 28, were identified on June 18.

 

Gervais was assigned in December 1944 to Company F in the 2nd Ranger Battalion, which was tasked with taking and securing Hill 400 near Bergstein, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, according to the accounting agency.

 

Shortly after successfully taking the hill on Dec. 7, the 2nd Ranger Battalion had to defend against a German counterattack.

 

Gervais and another soldier were instructed to make contact with another platoon on a different part of the hill, but the two men never made it.

 

The battalion could not search for Gervais due to continuous artillery fire and the treat of additional German attacks, which is why he was listed as missing in action.

 

The American Graves Registration Command, which was tasked with investigating and recovering the remains of missing Americans in Europe, searched the hill for Gervais between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to recover or identify his remains.

 

Gervais’ remains were officially declared unrecoverable in December 1951.

 

While studying unresolved American losses in Germany, a historian for the accounting agency theorized that one set of unidentified remains, which were recovered in April 1946, may belong to Gervais.

 

The unidentified remains, designated as X-2485 Neuville, were buried at what’s now the Ardennes American Cemetery. Those remains were disinterred in August 2022 and sent to a military laboratory for examination and identification.

 

Scientists identified the remains as belonging to Gervais using anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analyses, as well as circumstantial evidence, per the accounting agency.

 

Gervais’ name is listed on the walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will soon be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

 

He will be laid to rest on Dec. 7 in Bourne, Massachusetts.

 

See more at wpri.com.