Myron Elton Williams was a United States soldier killed in action during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest in World War II. His remains were located shortly after the war and were identified on July 13, 2022.
Biography[]
Myron Williams was born on April 4, 1915, in Ottawa, Illinois, to Edison and Lura Gibson Williams. He grew up with five sisters in Dixon, Illinois. After graduating from Dixon High School in 1933, he enrolled at the University of Illinois and attended until 1936. At the university, he met and married his wife, Dorothy Havener, who was from Urbana, Illinois.
On September 17, 1943, Myron enlisted in the United States Army. At the time of his enlistment, he was working for a baking company in Champaign, Illinois. His service number was 36687843, and he was assigned as a Private in Company L, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. The 4th Infantry Division deployed to Devonshire, England, on January 26–29, 1944, and to Southbrent, England, on May 15, 1944, to prepare for D-Day.
On June 6, 1944, the 4th Infantry Division participated in the Normandy Landings, but the strong marine current prevented them from reaching their intended destination at Utah Beach and landed them two kilometers south of La Madeleine in front of the German W-5 stronghold. Between June and September 1944, the 4th Infantry Division participated in several battles, including Cherbourg, the Liberation of Paris, and the Siegfried Line in Belgium and Luxembourg.
On November 7, 1944, the 4th Infantry Division entered the Hürtgen Forest of Germany and participated in its battle. Between September 19 and December 16, 1944, American and German forces fought in a series of fierce battles in and around the forest. On November 16, 1944, Myron was reported missing in action after his unit engaged with German forces in Hürtgen, Germany. He was last seen near Lendersdorf, Germany, entering a heavily mined, wooded area that also came under heavy artillery fire. Due to the fighting, his body was not recovered, and he was never reported as a prisoner of war. 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 soil during World War II and the longest single battle the US Army has fought.
Aftermath[]
On November 17, 1945, the United States Department of War (now the Department of Defense) issued a presumptive finding of death for Myron. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Additionally, he was memorialized at the East Lawn Cemetery in Urbana, Illinois, and at the Tablets of the Missing of the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, Netherlands.
After the end of World War II, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with identifying unknown soldier's remains from the European Theater. Between 1946 and 1950, the AGRC conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen Forest to recover the remains of soldiers killed in the battle. While they recovered hundreds of remains of United States soldiers, Myron's remains were not identified at the time of the investigation, and he was declared non-recoverable in December 1951.
In 1947, the AGRC recovered the remains of a United States soldier from a German forester who found them southwest of Hürtgen, Germany, near a German mine belt. The remains, dubbed "X-5432 Neuville", were not identified at the time and were buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupré, Belgium, in 1949. About 20 yards from "X5432 Neuville" was another set of remains of a United States soldier that was dubbed "X-5405 Neuville." These remains also could not be identified and were buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery.
Identification[]
In the late 2010s, a historian working for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) studying historical records associated with the Hürtgen Forest battle suggested "X-543 Neuville" could be Myron and recommended the remains be interred. In April 2019, the remains were interred and transported to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification. DPAA scientists also studied "X-5405 Neuville" and discovered comingling between the remains.
Using dental, anthropological, mitochondrial DNA, and Y-chromosome DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence, DPAA scientists identified the remains as being those of Myron Elton Williams on July 13, 2022. His identification was announced on March 20, 2023. By the time of his identification, his parents and Dorothy had already passed away.
Myron will be buried at Section 6, Row G, Site 83 of the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen, Texas.
Sources[]
- American Battle Monuments Commission
- Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
- Myron E. Williams (Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery) at Find a Grave
- Myron E. Williams (East Lawn Cemetery) at Find a Grave
- Myron E. Williams (Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial) at Find a Grave
- Stars and Stripes
- Battle of Hurtgen Forest on Wikipedia