West Virginia soldier killed in World War II identified

U.S. Army PFC Mose E. Vance, 21, of Bradshaw, West Virginia. Killed in action on January 11, 1945 in France during World War II (Photo provided by: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)

BRADSHAW, W.Va. (WOWK) – A West Virginia soldier killed during World War II will finally return home nearly 80 years after his death.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) says the remains of U.S. Army PFC Mose E. Vance, 21, of Bradshaw, West Virginia, have been positively identified.

According to the DPAA, Vance was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in January 1945. His division was in the European theater of the war. DPAA states that on New Year's Eve 1944, German forces launched Operation NORDWIND in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, and the battle enveloped two American corps along a 40-mile front wide. Vance's company was assigned to a seven-mile sector in the area near Reipertswiller and Wildenguth.

DPAA officials say Vance was killed during a battle on January 11, 1945. However, due to the “intensity” of the fighting, his body could not be found at that time. Because his remains were never found and there was no record of his capture by German forces, Vance was officially declared dead in December 1945.

After the war, the American Graves Registration Command began searching for fallen American service members in the European theater. Several sets of remains were recovered in the Reipertswiller area in 1946. Those who could be identified were buried in 1949 at the Saint-Avold American Military Cemetery, France, now called the Lorraine American Cemetery.

Over the years, DPAA historians have conducted extensive research on missing soldiers, including those at Reipertswiller and Wildenguth during World War II. Through their research, historians discovered that a set of remains, designated Unknown X-6904, may have been associated with PFC Vance. The remains were exhumed in August 2022 and transported to the DPAA laboratory for further investigation and analysis.

On January 5, 2024, DPAA was able to determine that these remains were those of PFC Vance. They used anthropological and circumstantial evidence, and the armed forces forensic system was aided by using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Vance's name is inscribed on the walls of the fallen at the Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate that he has now been found, according to the DPAA.

Vance's burial will be in Paynesville, West Virginia. The burial date has not yet been determined.