WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Baltimore soldier who served in World War II has been accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency after he went missing in 1944.
DPPA confirmed that 31-year-old Army Pfc. Raymond H. Middlekauff was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, which was engaged in battle against German forces near the town of Grosshau, in the Hürtgen Forest. They say during the combat in the Hürtgen Forest in 1944, Middlekauff and hundreds of other soldiers were reported missing by his company.
A year after Middlekauf went missing, the War Department declared him deceased and non-recoverable.
American Graves Registration Command investigative teams traveled to Grosshau to search for Middlekauff’s remains from 1947 to 1950. They were able to recover dozens of unidentified remains from the Hürtgen Forest. One set of remains identified as, Unknown X-2773 Neuville, was found in a cemetery in Belgium and was positively identified as Middlekauff by DPAA scientists.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war and only 72,692 have been accounted for.
DPAA says although Middlekauff was identified as "unknown" on his grave, the American Battle Monuments Commission meticulously cared for his site for the past 70 years. They say a rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
