Seven months after the pivotal D-Day invasion of the French coast, an Army private from Chicago, Jeremiah P. Mahoney, and his anti-tank company were resupplying and reinforcing Allied forces along a 40-mile-wide front on the France-Germany border in early January 1945.
During a fierce German counterattack near Reipertswiller, France, the 19-year-old private was digging a foxhole when heavy artillery and mortar fire struck the area. A soldier in Mahoney's company later recounted the incident, noting that a shell exploded nearby, causing another soldier to jump into the foxhole on top of Mahoney, followed by shrapnel raining down from a tree burst.
Private Mahoney was killed in the battle, and his company retreated without being able to recover his body. In January 1946, the War Department issued a presumptive finding of death, as there was no record of his capture or remains.
Recently, the Defense P.O.W./M.I.A. Accounting Agency announced that Private Mahoney had been accounted for. Jerry Mannell, a relative who had never met Mahoney, expressed a sense of closure and relief upon learning of the identification, coupled with remorse for Mahoney's immediate family not having this information before their passing.
In 1947, French civilians and de-mining units discovered human remains in the forest near Reipertswiller, which were subsequently collected by American military personnel. However, the scientific methods of the time were insufficient for identification. Private Mahoney's remains were among those collected but could not be identified, leading to his burial as an “unknown” at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium in 1949.
Private Mahoney was one of an estimated 400,000 American service members who died in World War II. While many were returned to their families or buried in marked graves, approximately 8,500 sets of remains remain unidentified and are buried under markers labeled “Unknown.”
Advancements in forensic techniques and DNA testing have provided hope for identifying some of these fallen soldiers. The remains are sent to the D.P.A.A. lab for analysis, where forensic anthropologists and odontologists work to identify them using various methods, including matching bone X-rays and analyzing dental records.
In 2022, Private Mahoney's remains were exhumed for fresh analysis and were identified using DNA samples from his family. Mannell commended the Army for its dedication over 75 years, stating, “They truly leave no soldier behind.”
Private Mahoney, the oldest of four children, grew up on the South Side of Chicago and graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep in 1943. He entered the Army after high school and served in Italy and France, participating in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.
A fellow soldier described Mahoney as dependable, courageous, and well-liked, noting his ability to maintain his nerve and sense of humor despite the challenges of war.
Currently, more than 72,000 American soldiers from World War II remain unaccounted for, along with over 7,400 from the Korean War and about 1,500 from Vietnam. Private Mahoney is scheduled to be buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery in the spring of 2025, marking a century since his birth.