John E. Anderson of Willmar, Minn. was killed in action on June 6, 1944. Following the end of World War II, the family was informed that he was lost at sea. In 2009, information was presented to the family leading them to believe that John may have been laid to rest in the grave of an unknown in Normandy American Cemetery. Following further research and a family request, the grave was disinterred in October 2015. DNA testing was performed at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska which positively identified the remains as Anderson.

Anderson’s remains returned to Minnesota aboard a commercial flight on Thursday, May 26, 2016 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The body was then ceremoniously transferred, and then transported by a small processional from MSP Airport to Willmar.

A public memorial service will be held in honor of Anderson at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at the War Memorial Auditorium, 311 Sixth St. SW, Willmar, Minnesota. In attendance will be Anderson’s nephew and Senator Amy Klobuchar. Anderson will be laid to rest next to his parents Oscar Emanuel and Anna Marilda.

The interment will be at Fairview Cemetery in Willmar following the service.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, unaccounted for since World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pvt. John P. Sersha, 20, of Leoneth, Minn., was killed in action on Sept. 27, 1944. Sersha was assigned to Company F, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, as part of Operation Market Garden, and was entrenched on a hill overlooking the German-controlled Kiekberg Woods near Groesbeek, Netherlands. Sersha was one of three “Bazooka Men” who were sent out with a platoon from Company F to assault the German positions.  None of the three men returned from the battle and several Company F soldiers stated Sersha had been killed.

On April 12, 1948, American Graves Registration Command personnel recovered two sets of remains from an isolated grave in the Kiekberg Woods. One of the sets of remains was identified and the other was designated as Unknown X-7429 and subsequently buried at the United States Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium.

Sersha’s family proposed to have the grave disinterred, based largely on two independent dental analyses which concluded dental charts for X-7429 and Sersha were consistent.  Under DPAA’s new disinterment process, historians were able to review the case and recommend further scientific analysis.  On Dec. 16, 2015, the grave was exhumed and the remains were transferred to DPAA for analysis.

After analyzing the DNA of family members and DNA from X-7429 there was a positive identification and Sersha’s remains were then sent home to relatives in Minnesota.

Pvt. John P. Sersha will be buried May 28, 2016 in Eveleth, Minnesota.

*Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war.

For additional information on the Department of Defense’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website or call (703) 699-1420.

[Photos and copy provided by DPAA]