ST. LOUIS — A World War II soldier who went missing almost 75 years ago during fighting in Germany will be buried with full military honors in his home state of Missouri.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that services are planned for Monday at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis County for Pfc. Dewey Wilbur Harris of Cherryville, Missouri.

The area where he fell in November 1944 during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest was laced with mines, making the recovery of bodies treacherous. It wasn’t until 1946, a year after the war ended, that American forces could retrieve their dead. For many years, Harris’ remains were designated as Unknown X-2702.

Harris’ niece, Mary Stromberg, of Chesterfield, said she cried when she heard the news that he had been identified, saying “I knew Dewey would come home sometime.”

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