CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — The remains of a western Pennsylvania soldier who was lost in action during World War II have been identified after 79 years, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Thursday.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Harry H. Hosfelt Jr., 20, of Connellsville, Fayette County, was serving with the Company A 30th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division in Italy when he was killed during an engagement with German forces near Cisterna di Latina, Italy on Feb. 9, 1944, the DPAA said. His body was not recovered, and the Germans did not report him as a prisoner of war.
The War Department issued a finding of death on Feb. 3, 1945.
After the war ended, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In March 1945, the AGRC recovered a set of remains designated X-745 near the hamlet of Ponte Rotto that were thought to be associated with Hosfelt, but there was not enough identifying data to make a positive identification.
The remains were interred at USMC Nettuno, which is now called the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, the DPAA said. Hosfelt was declared non-recoverable in 1948.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Anzio battlefield, a DPAA historian determined the X-745 remains were possibly those of Hosfelt. The remains were disinterred in September 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Using dental and anthropological analysis, along with DNA testing, the remains were positively identified as Hosfelt's on Sept. 28, 2023, the DPAA said.
Hosfelt's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for, the DPAA said.
Hosfelt will be buried in Connellsville on June 29, the DPAA said.
