Clarence W. Brotherton was a United States Army soldier who went missing in action during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest on 14 October 1944. His remains were recovered in 1946 and identified on 23 April 2020.
Background[]
Clarence Brotherton was born on 30 September 1924 to Leo and Hannah Brotherton in Gibson City, Illinois. He attended local grade schools at Elliot, Illinois, and Gibson City and graduated from DTHS.
Military service[]
On 11 July 1943, Brotherton enlisted in the United States Army. By August of 1943, he was stationed at Camp Callan in San Diego, California, and around 15 December 1943, he moved to Fort Bliss, Texas. In July 1944, he was sent overseas and fought in World War II's European theater. He was now a Private, First Class, of Company C, 60th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division. They travelled through France and Belgium before going into Germany.
The 9th Infantry Division took part in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. Between 19 September and 16 December 1944, American and German forces fought in a series of fierce battles in and around the Hürtgen Forest of Germany. Company C of the 60th Infantry Regiment had to secure the Raffelsbrand Road Junction. On 13 October, Brotherton, together with Staff Sergeant Raymond C. Blanton, Private Walter H. Reuter Jr., and Private First Class Leslie E. Shankles, attempted to take more pillboxes in the area. They met with a heavy counterattack and were all reported missing in action on 14 October 1944. Due to the ongoing fighting, none of them could be recovered.
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 was the most prolonged single battle the US Army had fought.
By his death, Brotherton had two other brothers in the Army; Sergeant Lyle was in Germany, and Sergeant John was in Chanute Field, Illinois.
Aftermath[]
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 Brotherton's remains. In 1951, the AGRS ruled him unrecoverable. After his death, he was memorialized at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial at Martgraten, Netherlands, the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the Drummer Township Cemetery at Gibson City, Illinois.
In 1946, at least two remains dubbed "X-4491 Neuville" and "X-4492 Neuville" were discovered and co-mingled from the Raffelsbrand sector of the Hürtgen Forest near Germeter, Germany. In 1951, the remains of eight soldiers were recovered around the area where Brotherton went missing. Two were identified as German soldiers, and the other six, alongside "X-4491 Neuville" and "X-4492 Neuville," were buried as unknown soldiers at Ardennes American Cemetery in 1950.
Identification[]
A historian working for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency noticed similarities between Brotherton and either "X-4491 Neuville" or "X-4492 Neuville." In September 2017, the remains were exhumed and transported to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification. Armed Forces Medical Examiner System scientists used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis at the lab, and DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence. These methods identified the remains as Clarence W. Brotherton on 23 April 2020. The identification was announced on 27 April 2020 and again on 23 August 2021. He was buried on 7 September 2021 in his hometown.
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