GRAND RAPIDS, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A U.S. Army soldier from West Michigan who was killed during World War II has been found and accounted for.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, 19-year-old Donald Hofman of Grand Rapids was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45 Infantry Division in January 1945.
He was among the soldiers who were surrounded by German forces and killed in Reipertswiller, France on January 20, 1945.
The Pentagon said that Hofman’s body couldn’t be recovered at the time because of ongoing fighting. He was declared non-reverable on May 22, 1951.
He was identified when Department of Defense historians found an unknown soldier buried at Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. DNA, dental records, and anthropological analysis found the remains belonged to Hofman on July 8, according to the Pentagon.
Hofman is expected to be buried in Byron Center.
