World War II Honoree

Harry W. Wilder

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Denver, Colorado

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. He was inducted into the United States Army November 27, 1943 at Denver, Colorado. Served as a Rifleman with the Twenty-Eighth Infantry ‘Keystone’ Division in the European Theater of operations, assigned to Baker Company, First Battalion and 110th Infantry Regiment. His division participated in the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest against the German Armed forces, Rhineland Campaign. Reported missing in Action November 14, 1944 during a combat engagement near the village of Simonskall, Germany. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. Later his missing in action status was amended to read killed in action November 15, 1945. After the cessation of hostilities in Europe, a Quartermaster Graves Registration Company, Quartermaster Corps conducted recovery operations in the Hurtgen Forest. The remains that could not be identified were interred as an unknown in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium. Personnel from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Agency in April of 2018 disinterred an unknown from the Ardennes cemetery. The remains were transferred to the Agency’s laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska were he was identified. The family of this Soldier received his remains for burial. He was laid to rest with Military Honors March 4, 2020 at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. This American Patriot received the following decorations posthumously: Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. The Bronze Star, awarded for Bravery, Act of Merit and Meritorious Service in Combat, and the Purple Heart for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.