Kansas man killed in Germany in Globe War II identified

HILL CITY, Kan. (AP) — The remains of a Kansas man who died in Germany throughout Globe War II have been identified and will be returned to his household state for burial later this year.

The physique of US Army Sgt. Gregory W. Knoll 22, of Hill City. was identified in January, but his loved ones only lately received a complete briefing, the POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Friday.

Knoll was assigned to Firm M, 3rd Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. In November 1944, his battalion was overwhelmed by German forces as they attempted to capture Schmidt in Germany in the Hurtgen Forest.

The survivors of the attack retreated to Kommersheim, exactly where it was reported that Knoll was killed in action on November 7, 1944.

The American Graves Registration Command performed many investigations in the Hurtgen region amongst 1946 and 1950, but failed to find or determine Knoll’s remains.

A DPAA historian later determined that a set of unidentified remains located at Kommersant in April 1946 almost certainly belonged to Knoll. The remains have been interred at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium in 1949.

They have been unearthed in July 2021 and sent to a DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, exactly where scientists applied DNA and other analyzes to determine Knoll’s remains.

Knoll will be buried July 7 in Garden City.

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