Main battle tank in WWII8/28/2023 ![]() Prior to joining the Army, Thomas lived on Taunton Avenue in East Providence and was nicknamed “Bud.” In a section of an undated yearbook shared by the Defense Department this year, Thomas is described as having a “deep voice and an aptitude for oratory.” With decades of historical information and new scientific methods “we knew we could bring many of those soldiers home,” said Spurgeon. “We can use their statements to determine exactly what type of plane they saw and where it crashed.” “I’ve spoken to elderly French and German citizens who can describe, in great detail, the day they saw an American plane crash in their community in 1944,” Spurgeon said. Now, in order to identify Americans who went missing eight decades ago, DPAA investigators are often looking for records and speaking to the few surviving witnesses in Europe that recall the war’s events. Harsh weather, landmines, and German artillery fire prevented any evacuation of the wounded at the time. “Veterans of the fighting often did not know the fate of their comrades.” “The difficult terrain and the overall chaos on the battlefield there made the region one of the most horrible places for soldiers during World War II,” said Spurgeon in a statement. More Americans died in that woodland than on the islands Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal combined, said Wright. Still, the battle is largely forgotten in American military history, despite lasting nearly twice as long as the campaign in Normandy. The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest is now known as one of the bloodiest conflicts of World War II. The initiative, which formally began in 2016 around the same time the agency was established, has been working to identify and locate the remains of 200 unidentified Americans who died in or near the Hürtgen Forest. Thomas is one of 58 soldiers to be accounted for as part of the DPAA’s Hürtgen Forest Project. ![]() ![]() The remains commingled with Thomas’ have not yet been identified, but are still under analysis, DPAA spokeswoman Ashley M. ![]() In March of this year, Thomas was finally identified by evidence that included a DNA analysis, according to the agency. In 2019, the two bodies were exhumed and sent to a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or DPAA, laboratory where they were analyzed. Thomas was declared nonrecoverable in February 1951. ![]()
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