DEFENSE POW/MIA ACCOUNTING AGENCY

Europe-Mediterranean Directorate:

Disinterments

Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise 
Essential Definitions

What is an Unknown?

• A believed-to-be U.S. 

Service member 

recovered during or after 

past conflicts determined 

to be “unidentifiable”

• A group/set of remains 

that, for a variety of 

reasons, was 

unidentifiable at the time 

of recovery

What is an X-File?

• The file of 

documentation for each 

Unknown

An Unknown can consist of as little as a single bone fragment 

from one person, or many hundreds of bones from multiple 

individuals 

What is the AGRS/C?

• Acronym of the 

American Graves 

Registration 

Service/Command

• Branch of the 

Quartermaster Corps of 

the U.S. Army

• Started in World War I 

to recover, identify, and 

bury the remains of U.S. 

war dead

What is a Disinterment?

• Exhumation of an 

Unknown from a U.S.-

controlled military 

cemetery.

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World War II Unknowns

Suresnes American Cemetery (Photo Credit: ABMC)

Florence American Cemetery

3
World War II Unknowns

The gravesite of an 

Unknown service 

member at Lorraine 

American Cemetery in 

France

4
World War II Recoveries

U.S. Graves Registration personnel 

and German POWs collect and 

catalog remains of American service 

members in Normandy, France. 

5
World War II Temporary 

Cemeteries

Soldiers pay their respects at a temporary cemetery for deceased 

members of the 29th Infantry Division, Normandy, France; July 

1944. (Photo Credit: RG 111, NARA) 6
Eventually, all remains deemed unidentifiable 

were moved from temporary cemeteries and

buried in a permanent U.S. Cemetery as World War II Unknowns.

Temporary Cemeteries

7
World War II Permanent 

Cemeteries

Cemetery # of Graves # of 

Unknowns

Ardennes, Belgium 771 789

Brittany, France 94 97

Cambridge, Great Britain 24 24

Corozal, Panama 1 1

Epinal, France 69 70

Florence, Italy 207 211

Golden Gate, US – CA 33 33

Henri-Chapelle, Belgium 94 94

Long Island, US – NY 60 60

Lorraine, France 151 151

Luxembourg 101 101

Netherlands 106 107

Normandy, France 307 307

North Africa, Tunisia 240 240

Rhone, France 60 60

Sicily-Rome, Italy 488 490

Sitka, US – AK 5 5

Suresnes, France 24 24

Europe-Mediterranean

• ~2,800 WWII Unknowns

• 18 cemeteries (ABMC & VA)

52%

25%

8%

4%

4%

3%

3% 1%0%

France Italy Tunisia Netherlands Luxembourg

United States Belgium Great Britain Panama 8
World War II Identification 

Efforts

Central 

Identification Point 

(CIP) 

Strasbourg, France

9
World War II Identification 

Efforts

Disinterment 

& Analysis

Central ID Point

Analysis

AGRS

Recommendation

10
11

4 1 1 1 3

17

48

61

77

40

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Unknowns Disinterred

DPAA Formed

WWII Europe Disinterments:

Very Few Prior to DPAA
Research Links Missing Service Members to 

an Unknown

12

= Unknown remains 

recovery location

= Last known location 

of missing soldier
13

Historical and Scientific Lines of Evidence 

Support Disinterment Proposals
Disinterment requirements: 

– Medical means of identification for more than 50% for single unknowns

– More than 60% for groups of unknowns or commingled remains

14

Candidates on Short Lists have Multiple 

Lines of Evidence to Meet Thresholds
15

Europe-Mediterranean Unknowns are in 

18 Cemeteries in 9 Countries
16

DPAA teams work with cemeteries to 

exhume Unknowns during appropriate 

weather windows and minimize 

damage to cemetery grounds.

(Photo credits: ABMC)

Planning and Coordination with Cemetery 

Partners
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18 Cemeteries, 9 Countries; VA = US, ABMC = Global

VA Cemeteries include Unknowns linked with:

• USS Pollux

• USS Truxtun

• USS Turner

ABMC Cemeteries include Unknowns associated with:

• Operation OVERLORD, France

• Hürtgen Forest, Germany

• Battle of the Bulge, Belgium

• N. Africa Campaign

• Austria Air Losses

• Operation TIDAL WAVE, Romania

• Battle of Anzio, Italy

• Operation MARKET GARDEN, Netherlands

• Gothic Line Campaign, Italy

• Brittany Campaign, France

• Operation HUSKY, Sicily

• Siegfried Line Campaign, Germany

Unknowns and Disinterment Efforts by 

Cemetery
18

Ploesti Research and Disinterments

Disinterment Identification Announcements:

https://dpaa.mil
19

Reipertswiller (France) Disinterments

Disinterment Identification Announcements:

https://dpaa.mil
20

Hürtgen Forest Disinterments

Disinterment Identification Announcements:

https://dpaa.mil
21

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Past Total Projected Future Total

DPAA Formed

Disinterments: Historical Total and 

Projected Future Growth

Disinterment Identification Announcements:

https://dpaa.mil
Offutt Air Force Base personnel perform an 

honorable carry to the DPAA laboratory of 

disinterred remains from Europe, 21 July 2020.

(Photo credit: U.S. Air Force / Zachary Hada)

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Disinterments are a Pillar of the 

Identification Effort

Disinterment Identification Announcements:

https://dpaa.mil