DEFENSE POW/MIA ACCOUNTING AGENCY

The Hürtgen Forest Project

Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise 
Germany

Netherlands

Belgium

Hürtgen

Forest
Approximate battle lines 

in mid-October 1944
Approximate battle lines 

on 2 November 1944
Approximate battle lines 

in late November 1944

American Graves Registration Command 

(AGRC) technicians preparing equipment 

to examine remains

German POWs excavating 

graves at a temporary U.S. 

cemetery in Europe
AGRC sketch map 

from 1946 showing 

the recovery locations 

of several sets of 

American remains in 

the Hürtgen Forest
AGRC recovery report form

Typical AGRC recovery narrative summary
1946 AGRC recovery sketch map

N

Modern satellite imagery of actual location

Approximate recovery location marked by yellow circle
Lukasmuehle

Tiefen1947 AGRC recovery sketch map Modern satellite imagery of actual location

Approximate recovery location marked by yellow circle
Images from the 1946 AGRC Central Identification Point Photo Journal 

Medical technician 

sprays disinfectant 

onto remains prior 

to storage

Administrative personnel 

records personal effects 

found with remains

Temporary U.S. military 

cemetery at St. Avold, France
Example of a skeletal chart for an unidentified 

set of remains recovered in the Hürtgen Forest

Example of a tooth chart for an unidentified set 

of remains recovered in the Hürtgen Forest

(Portions in black are missing)
Photos from AGRC investigation in Hürtgen Forest
Team Assignments 

& Number of Missing Personnel

Team 1

˃ 2,000

Team 2

˃ 2,000

Team 3

˃ 1,900

Team 4

˃ 10,000

DPAA

EUROPE-MEDITERRANEAN DIRECTORATE

MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAMS
Hürtgen Forest Project

• Three main objectives

1. Case summary report for each missing soldier

2. Disinterment recommendation for each unknown set of 

remains recovered from the Huertgen Forest that has a 

greater than 50% chance of identification

3. Field work
Example of U.S. Army battle report and map 

overlay for combat in the Hürtgen Forest, 

collected from the National Archives
Geospatial Information System (GIS) layering of: 

1. Modern aerial imagery

2. 1944 U.S. Army grid map

3. 12th Infantry Regiment overlay from 9 Nov 1944

DPAA battle analysis map based upon 

unit records, personnel files, and combat overlays
Each red dot 

represents the 

approximate last 

known location of a 

missing American
Each yellow dot 

represents the 

approximate recovery 

location of an 

unidentified body
Comparison of loss 

locations with 

recovery locations of 

unidentified remains

= Last known location 

of missing soldier

= Unknown remains 

recovery location
DPAA Identifications 

of Hürtgen Forest 

casualties since 2016

= Last known location 

of still-missing soldier

= Last known location 

of soldier identified 

by DPAA since 2016
Comparison of loss 

locations with 

recovery locations of 

unidentified remains

= Last known location 

of missing soldier

= Unknown remains 

recovery location
Kall Trail Brandenburger tor Kommerscheidt

Photographs of DPAA investigations in the 

Hürtgen Forest

Wilde Sau Raffelsbrand
University of Osnabrück magnetometry scan results
Pin flags marking metal detector “hits” 

at Hurtgen Forest site

Excavator scraping top layer of soil 

at Hürtgen Forest site
Aerial view of excavation at 

Hürtgen Forest site

Line of foxholes

Artillery craters

Intersection of 

former drainage 

trenches
Foxhole site before 

excavation

Military artifacts found 

during excavation

Screening soil for 

material evidence 

during excavation