IOLA, WI (WTAQ) – The remains of a World War II soldier from Waupaca County have been identified.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) reports U.S. Army Private William Hedtke of Iola was accounted for on October 17th. In 2016, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis to identify Hedtke’s remains.
Hedtke was assigned to Battery B, 319th Glider Artillery Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division in 1944.
Hedtke was 28-years old when he reportedly died from his injuries sustained in a hard glider landing near Groesbeek, Netherlands during Operation Market Garden on September 18, 1944.
He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia at a future date.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently, there are 72,635 service members still unaccounted for from WWII with approximately 30,000 assessed as possibly recoverable.
Hedtke’s name is on the Walls of the Missing at Margraten American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
