Wade, Henry C.
Army Private 1st class

Henry C. Wade, age 24, from Kentucky, Russell county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, November 12, 1944
Death details: The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, one of the bloodiest conflicts of World War II, was fought between Allied and German forces from September 1944 to February 1945. As U.S. forces advanced eastward into Germany, the defending Germans manned “Siegfried Line” positions opposite the Belgian border. The battle grew to involve approximately 200,000 troops, with tens of thousands of casualties on both sides. American forces initially entered the area seeking to block German reinforcements from moving north toward the fighting around Aachen, the westernmost city of Germany, near the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. In the battle’s second phase and as part of the Allied’s larger offense toward the Rhine River, U.S. troops attempted to push through the forest to the banks of Roer River. Aided by bad weather and rough terrain, German forces in the Hürtgen Forest put up unexpectedly strong resistance due to a well-prepared defense. American forces were unable to break through to the Rur before the German Ardennes offensive struck in December 1944, known as the Battle of the Bulge, which halted the eastward Allied advance until February 1945. Private First Class Henry C. Wade, who joined the U.S. Army from Kentucky, was a member of Company K, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, which took part in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest. On November 12, 1944, he was killed in action while engaging German Forces near Germeter, Germany. His remains were initially reportedly recovered and buried at an American Cemetery in Belgium. However, PFC Wade’s remains could not be identified among those later disinterred from the cemetery. Further searches of the Hürtgen Forest area following the end of hostilities were also unsuccessful in locating his remains. Today, Private First Class Wade is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency