Army World War II soldier killed on German battlefield laid to rest after almost 80 years

KILLEEN — On a sunny Friday, as wind blew gently across Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery, a distinct sound cut through the air, silencing the dozens gathered at the pavilion.

The sound was the sharp, hollow noise of horse hooves clopping on the pavement, the horses pulling a carriage-style hearse that contained a casket with the remains of Pvt. Myron Williams, a soldier who died in Germany during World War II.

The return of Williams, who had been missing since 1944, was a joyous occasion, according to members of various veteran service organizations from across Central Texas.

Two such veterans, David Stading and David Burris, attended the memorial for Williams on behalf of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10427 of Leander.

"Every soldier — when they serve — deserves this honor," Burris said. "It's a privilege; I’m fortunate. I’m a seventh-generation veteran in my family, and it's a great honor. These guys paid the ultimate sacrifice. How do you not respect that?"

Fighting with the 4th Infantry Division, Williams is believed to have died during the Battle of Huertgen Forest in 1944. The 4th Infantry Division was previously headquartered at Fort Cavazos. It was for this reason that surviving family members had him buried in nearby Killeen, though he was originally from Illinois.

"We brought him home," Burris said. "He was laying in a foreign country, and now we can put him to rest. Maybe he’ll rest at ease now, knowing that he's home. The family will have some closure, too."

For those surviving family members, none knew him pre-war. They all agree it is a great thing for him to return to the States.

But it was the country's persistence that impressed North Texas resident James Reid, a nephew of Williams, who attended Friday's burial in Killeen.

"What really impressed me is that the Army never gave up — I find that really impressive," Reid said, moved by his own words.

Williams was reported missing on Nov. 16, 1944, at the age of 29. After the war, he was not recovered and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war, so the U.S. War Department presumptively labeled his status as deceased on Nov. 17, 1945.

In December 1951, Williams was declared unrecoverable after the American Graves Registration Command was unable to retrieve his remains when they scoured the Huertgen Forest area between 1946 and 1950.

A few years ago, historians with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency believed his remains had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Belgium. They exhumed the remains in 2019 and discovered his remains may have been commingled with those of another soldier.

His remains were positively identified on July 13, 2022, after a series of DNA tests.

"It's just an honor to be able to represent the VFW in honoring this soldier," Stading said. "I spent seven years in Germany, and while I was there, they had some other MIAs that were recovered, and it's just an incredible honor to come up here and to be able to render last respects."

The ceremony Williams received was one befitting a hero.

Surviving family members received guests and visitors at Crotty Funeral Home in Belton, and then Williams and the family received a police escort all the way to the cemetery in south Killeen.

There, Williams’ casket was transferred from the hearse to a white horse-drawn carriage that carried it between a row of American flags gently blowing in the wind to the pavilion where the ceremony took place.

Taking extra care, soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment transported his casket from the carriage to the front of the pavilion, his dog tags dangling from the head end of the casket.

Following the rifle salute, taps and remarks from Chaplain Capt. Joseph Anaman of 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, the soldiers folded the flag draped across the casket and Staff Sgt. Kasaun Shaffer presented it to Dianne Mangum, a niece of Williams who lives in Austin.

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