MOUNT OLIVE – It has been nearly 80 years since U.S. Army Sergeant John W. Radanovich has been home on Mount Olive soil. However, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has announced that the remains of Radanovich, 23, of Mount Olive, Illinois, reported missing during World War II, was accounted for on May 11, 2023.

Radanovich will be buried in Mount Olive, Illinois, on a date yet to be determined.

In November 1944, Radanovich was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 22nd infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His rifle platoon was engaged in battle with German forces near the town of Grosshau, in Hürtgen Forest, Germany when he was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1944. Despite continued progress against German fighting positions, many soldiers were killed along the Company G battle line.

The Germans never reported Radanovich as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not immediately recovered. The War Department issued a presumptive finding of death in December 1945.

Radanovich’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950. None of the remains recovered during that time were identified as Radanovich.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen Forest, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-2754A Neuville, recovered near Grosshau in 1946 possibly belonged to Radanovich. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, were disinterred in June 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Radanovich’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission and to the U.S. Army Regional Mortuary-Europe/Africa for their partnership in this mission.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website or find them on Facebook or LinkedIn.

Radanovich’s personnel profile can be viewed here.

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