Operation Market Garden

Aiello, Michael
Army Staff sergeant

Michael Aiello, age 35, from Sangamon County Springfield, Illinois .

Parents: Gaspare and Grazia Randazzo Aiello

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, September 30, 1944
Death details: On May 4, 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Michael Aiello, missing from World War II. Staff Sergeant Michael Aiello joined the U.S. Army from Illinois and was a member of Company G, 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He landed in the Netherlands behind German lines as part of Operation MARKET GARDEN, and was killed during an assault against German positions in the Kiekberg Woods on September 30, 1944. The combat situation at the time prevented the recovery of SSG Aiello’s remains. In January 1946, U.S. search teams recovered three sets of remains in the Kiekberg Woods. Two sets were identified, while the third was buried as an unknown at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupré, Belgium. Advances in forensic techniques eventually prompted the re-examination and identification of this third set of unknown remains as those SSG Aiello.
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Camp Butler National

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency,, State Journal Register (1945, 2017)

Myers, Joseph F.
Army 1st lieutenant

Joseph F. Myers, age 31, from Kent County Frederica, Delaware .

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, September 30, 1944
Death details: On September 17, 1944, elements of the newly formed First Allied Airborne Army (the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, the British 1st Airborne Division, and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade Group) launched the first phase of Operation MARKET GARDEN. This operation was an effort to bypass the Siegfried Line defenses along Germany’s western border by seizing bridges in the Netherlands, by which heavier forces could then advance across the Rhine River. The landings employed a mix of glider infantry and paratroopers; the 101st Airborne was tasked with taking the bridges at Son and Veghel, while the 82nd would take the bridges at Grave and Nijmegen. However, Allied troops faced unexpectedly well-organized German resistance and experienced difficulty linking up with the friendly forces that were supposed to join them at the bridgeheads. Poor weather also limited the effectiveness of Allied air support. After several days of fierce fighting, the opposing lines stabilized with Allied forces holding south of the Rhine in what became known as the Nijmegen Salient. The operation’s ultimate objective, which was entering Germany in the north by crossing the Rhine, was not fulfilled until early 1945.
First Lieutenant Joseph F. Myers entered the U.S. Army from Delaware and served with Company G, 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Battalion. He was reported missing on September 30, 1944, during the fierce offensive to capture the lands between Kiekberg Woods and the Maas River, known as the Mook Plain, during Operation MARKET GARDEN. Specific information regarding his loss is unavailable. He could not be located after the battle, and attempts to recover his remains following the war were unsuccessful. Today, First Lieutenant Myers is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Morning News (1945)

Weber, Norman L.
Army 2nd lieutenant

Norman L. Weber, age 24, from Madison County Anderson, Indiana .

Parents: Thelma Weber
Spouse: Thelma Weber

Service era: World War II
Military history: 401 Glider Infantry 101 Airborne Division

Date of death: Saturday, September 30, 1944
Death details: On September 17, 1944, elements of the newly formed First Allied Airborne Army (the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, the British 1st Airborne Division, and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade Group) launched the first phase of Operation MARKET GARDEN. This operation was an effort to bypass the Siegfried Line defenses along Germany’s western border by seizing bridges in the Netherlands, by which heavier forces could then advance across the Rhine River. The landings employed a mix of glider infantry and paratroopers; the 101st Airborne was tasked with taking the bridges at Son and Veghel, while the 82nd would take the bridges at Grave and Nijmegen. However, Allied troops faced unexpectedly well-organized German resistance and experienced difficulty linking up with the friendly forces that were supposed to join them at the bridgeheads. Poor weather also limited the effectiveness of Allied air support. After several days of fierce fighting, the opposing lines stabilized with Allied forces holding south of the Rhine in what became known as the Nijmegen Salient. The operation’s ultimate objective, which was entering Germany in the north by crossing the Rhine, was not fulfilled until early 1945.
Second Lieutenant Norman L. Weber, who entered the U.S. Army from Indiana, was serving with Company G of the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR), 101st Airborne Division, at the time of Operation MARKET GARDEN. For the operation, his unit landed around Nijmegen on September 23, 1944. The glider soldiers assisted in taking and holding the bridges at Grave and Nijmegen, before assaulting strong German positions in an area known as the Kiekberg Woods. During the fighting there over the next several days, Company G sustained particularly heavy casualties, with several men reported as missing in action. Communications breakdowns, thick vegetation, and nighttime combat contributed to the difficulty of accounting for missing soldiers, one of whom was 2LT Weber. German records do not indicate that 2LT Weber was ever taken prisoner, and subsequent searches of the battlefield areas associated with Operation MARKET GARDEN were not able to uncover any trace of his remains. Today, Second Lieutenant Weber is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.
Cemetery: Unaccounted For

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Anderson Herald (1945)

Rakoff, Leo
Army Private

Leo Rakoff, age 26, from New York County New York.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Wednesday, September 27, 1944
Death details: On August 12, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of U.S. Army Pvt. Leo Rakoff, missing from World War II. Rakoff entered the Army from New York and served in Company F, Second Battalion, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. On Sept. 27, 1944, during Operation Market Garden, Company F attacked German positions in the Kiekberg Woods near Groesbeek, Netherlands. Rakoff was killed in action when an artillery shell exploded near his position. The intensity of battle prevented the recovery of his remains at the time. In July 1945, British Graves Registration personnel recovered an unknown set of remains from an isolated field grave near Breedeweg and Grafwegen, Netherlands. The remains, clothed in a uniform bearing an 82nd Airborne Division patch, were turned over to U.S. authorities. The remains could not be identified and were buried as an Unknown at the Netherlands American Cemetery. In 2016, as part of a comprehensive research effort focused on the missing from Operation Market Garden, DPAA historians recommended this Unknown for disinterment. The remains were exhumed that September and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis. Using modern forensic techniques, scientists identified the remains as those of Rakoff.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Sersha, John P.
Army Private

John P. Sersha, age 21, from Saint Louis County Iron Range, Minnesota .

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Wednesday, September 27, 1944
Death details: On March 10, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) accounted for Private John P. Sersha, missing from World War II. Private Sersha entered the U.S. Army from Minnesota and was a member of Company F, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, as part of Operation Market Garden. On September 27, 1944, members of Company F were entrenched on a hill overlooking the German-controlled Kiekberg Woods near Groesbeek, Netherlands, and Private Sersha was one of three “Bazooka Men” sent out with a platoon to assault the German positions. The three men failed to return from the battle and several Company F soldiers stated Private Sersha was killed during the action, but his remains were not recovered at the time. In 1948, American Graves Registration Command personnel recovered two sets of remains from an isolated grave in the Kiekberg Woods. One of the sets of remains identified and the other was designated as “unknowns” and subsequently buried at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium. Private Sersha’s family proposed disinterment of these remains, based largely on two independent dental analyses. In 2015, the grave was exhumed and the remains transferred to DPAA. Using modern forensic techniques, analysts identified these remains as those of Private Sersha.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Star Tribune (2016)

Dionne, Raymond J.
Army Private

Raymond J. Dionne, age 21, from Strafford County New Hampshire.

Parents: Edward A. and Rose Dionne

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, September 21, 1944
Death details: Died non-battle

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Portsmouth Herald (1945)

Creswick, Stanley
Army Private 1st class

Stanley Creswick, age 20, from Hudson County Bayonne, New Jersey .

Parents: David Creswick

Service era: World War II
Schools: Bayonne Technical High graduate

Date of death: Monday, September 18, 1944
Death details: Killed in action in Holland

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Jersey Journal (1945), Bayonne Times (1945)

Back To Top