05/14/2026
NEWS RELEASE
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Washington, D.C. 20301-2300
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Phone: (703) 699-1420/1193
Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
Soldier Accounted For From World War II
May 1, 2026
WASHINGTON—The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S.
Army Pfc. John A. Walko, 20, of Commodore, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was
accounted for July 16, 2025.
Walko’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional
details on his identification can be shared.
In 1944, Walko was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry
Division. He was reportedly killed in action on Oct. 20 after his company encountered German
enemy fire in Aachen, Germany. His remains were not accounted for after the war.
In November 1944, the American Graves Registration Command at the United States Military
Cemetery Henri-Chapelle, Netherlands, processed a set of unknown remains, later designated X-
99 Henri-Chapelle, belonging to an individual killed by mortar fire on Oct. 20, 1944. Due to the
condition of the remains, they were unable to be positively identified at the time and were
reinterred at USMC Henri-Chapelle.
In July 2023, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission
exhumed X-99 Henri-Chepelle and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
To identify Walko’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis as well as
material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used
mitochondrial, Y chromosome, and autosomal DNA analysis.
Walko’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery,
an ABMC site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Walko will be buried in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on May 20, 2026.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission for their partnership in this
mission.
For additional information on the War Department’s mission to account for Americans who went
missing while serving their country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or on social media
at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, https://www.linkedin.com/company/dodpaa,
https://www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or https://x.com/dodpaa.
Walko’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-
mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001nzaJWEAY.
Walko’s initial ID announcement can be viewed at https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-
Announcements/Article/4270869/soldier-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-walko-j/.
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