Name: Harold E Dechon
First Name(s): Harold E
Last Name: Dechon
Place of birth: New Mexico,
Rank: Pvt BAR Gunner
ASN: 39152404
Company: B
Unit: 394th IR 1stBn 99th ID
Reported as: MIA ► FOD
Date of incident: 24-01-1945
Place of incident: Elsenbüchel Forest
His story: In January 1945 Pfc Harold E Dechon was killed during a patrol in Elsenbüchel Forest east of Elsenborn, Belgium. Following the war, remains of American soldiers were recovered and identified on January 16, 1946 but not those of Dechon.
Then on July 21, 1992, two Belgian nationals who were part of MIA project located and excavated abandoned fighting positions in the forest. They recovered remains of Pvt Dechon, Pfc William D Cooper, Sgt John T Puckett and Pfc Earnest E Brown and other evidence and turned them over to U.S. authorities in Germany, Europe.
In the spring of 2001 Scientists of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used mitochondrial DNA as one of the forensic tools to identify their remains.
In 2005 Harold Dechon‘s remains were buried at the Arlington National Cemetery..
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