MINNEAPOLIS — After more than seven decades of searching and waiting, a Minnesota woman will get the chance to give her husband a proper military burial.

Army Staff Sgt. Jerry Jacobsen will be buried with full military honors at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in July, KMSP-TV reported.

Catherine Burket of Roseville married Jacobsen in 1943, just days before he left to fight in World War II.

"I knew we were in love but I didn't know we were that much in love," Burket said.

Jacobsen's outpost was attacked by Germans in 1944, and he was listed as missing in action.

Burket spent more than 70 years asking the government to help her locate her husband's remains and bring him home.

Independent researcher Roberta Russo found that Jacobsen may have been buried in a grave for an "unknown" soldier at a cemetery in Normandy, France. The Department of Defense was alerted about the files in 2008 but didn't pursue the lead.

The grave finally was dug up in November, and DNA testing confirmed the remains are Jacobsen's.

"Oh my God, I say this has been a long time, seventy some years to wait for him to come home," Burket said.

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