Kansas man killed in Germany in World War II identified

HILL CITY, Kan. (AP) — The remains of a Kansas man who died during World War II in Germany have been identified and will be returned to his native state for burial later this year.

The body of U.S. Army Sgt. Gregory V. Knoll 22, of Hill City. was identified in January but his family was only recently received a full briefing, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Friday.

Knoll was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. In November 1944, his battalion was overrun by German forces as they tried to capture Schmidt, Germany, in the Hurtgen Forest.

Survivors of the attack withdrew to Kommerscheidt, where Knoll was reported killed in action on Nov. 7, 1944.

The American Graves Registration Command conducted several investigations in the Hürtgen area between 1946 and 1950 but were unable to find or identify Knoll’s remains.

A DPAA historian later determined one set of unidentified remains recovered at Kommerschedt in April 1946 possibly belonged to Knoll. The remains had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium in 1949.

They were disinterred in July 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, where scientists used DNA and other analysis to identify Knoll’s remains

Knoll will be buried on July 7 in Garden City.