William Rufus "Bud" Linder was a United States Army soldier who went missing in action during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest on November 16, 1944. His remains were recovered in 1947 and identified on September 23, 2021.
Background[]
William Linder was born on November 25, 1914 to William and Esther Stancil Linder at Fort Mills, South Carolina. On October 16, 1940, he registered for the Selective Service. By this time, he was living at Piedmont, South Carolina and was working at Daniels Construction Company.
Military service[]
In late 1944, "Bud" was sent overseas and went to fight in the European theatre of Word War II. He was now a Staff Sergeant of Company E, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.
The 4th Infantry Division took part in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. Between September 19 to December 16, 1944, American and German forces fought in a series of fierce battles in and around the Hürtgen Forest of Germany. During the fighting, "Bud" went missing in action on November 16, 1944.
The Battle of Hürtgen Forest became a defensive victory for Germany, with 33,000 to 55,000 casualties on the American side and 28,000 casualties on the German side. It was the longest battle on German ground during World War II and is the longest single battle the US Army has fought.
Aftermath[]
"Bud" was posthumously awarded the Purple Hear and the Bronze Star with an Oak Leaf Cluster. He was not listed as a prisoner of war by German forces and he was declared dead on November 17, 1945.
After the war's end, the American Graves Registration Service was tasked to identify unknown soldier's remains from the European Theatre. However, they were unable to locate and identify "Bud's" remains. In December 1951, the AGRS ruled him unrecoverable. He was memorialized at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium.
In 1947, shortly after a forest fire through the area, local citizens of the Hürtgen area discovered the skeletal remains of an unidentified American soldier. The soldier, dubbed "X-5431 Neuville," was buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium after he could not be identified.
Identification[]
A historian working for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency determined "Bud" and "X-5431 Neuville" were the same person. In April 2019, the remains were exhumed and transported to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska for identification. At the lab, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis and DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence.
Through these methods, the remains were identified as William "Bud" Linder on September 23, 2021. The identification was announced on October 18, 2021 . He was buried on October 29, 2021, at MJ Dolly Cooper Veterans Cemetery in Anderson, South Carolina.
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