SPANISH FORT, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama soldier who was killed in 1944 while fighting in World War II is set to be buried at a national cemetery now that his remains have been identified.
A service was scheduled for Army Pfc. Bill Morrison on Friday afternoon at the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery, in Baldwin County across Mobile Bay from Mobile.
Morrison’s remains were identified last summer using DNA testing, according to the Defense Department, and they were returned to Alabama last week. Relatives of the soldier plan to attend the service, according to the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs.
Morrison, 29, of Birmingham was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division during the war in Europe, according to the Pentagon. He was killed during a battle against Nazi forces in the Hurtgen Forest of Germany on Nov. 8, 1944, but his body couldn’t be recovered.
A U.S. military historian determined that remains found by a German civilian after the war might have been those of Morrison, but they were buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery in 1950 without further identification possible.
Political Cartoons
The remains were disinterred in 2019 and determined to be those of Morrison using a combination of DNA testing, dental and anthropological testing and physical evidence, according to a statement by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.