Sitarz, John J.
Army Private 1st class

John J. Sitarz from West Virginia, Hancock county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1944
Death details: On May 27, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class John J. Sitarz, missing from World War II. Private First Class Sitarz entered the U.S. Army from West Virginia and served in Company L, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. On November 2, 1944, he was wounded when he stepped on a landmine near Germeter, Germany, during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. Members of his unit were unable to reach him and he was reported missing. He did not survive this action, and his remains were not recovered at the time. Remains reportedly recovered from a minefield near Germeter were exhumed in 2018, and brought to the DPAA Laboratory where scientists used circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis and determined that the soldier had been killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head. DPAA eventually identified the remains as those of PFC Sitarz.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency