NEKOOSA, Wis. — A U.S. Army soldier from Wisconsin missing from World War II will be buried in his hometown this weekend.
Twenty-three-year-old Pfc. Gerald F. Wipfli of Nekoosa was reported missing in action in November 1944 after his unit fought German forces in the town of Schmidt, Germany, during the battle of Hurtgen Forest.
Wipfli was among 33 soldiers listed as missing in action from his company. He was declared “non-recoverable” in 1950.
Workers from a power company unearthed remains while installing electrical lines in Schmidt in 2010. The German War Graves Commission unearthed the site, and scientists used DNA to help identify Wipfli’s remains.
Wipfli will be buried with full military honors in Nekoosa on Saturday.