English: Soldiers from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment and the U.S. Army Band conducted military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Casimer Lobacz in Section 33, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, June 17, 2024.

From a press release by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA):

In the early fall of 1944, Lobacz was assigned to Company E, 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division. The unit was advancing through France as part of what was unofficially called the Lorraine Campaign. On Sept. 27, Lobacz’s unit was part of the ground attack on Fort Driant, near Metz. He was reported to have been killed during the first wave of the assault. However, due to enemy fire, his body was unable to be recovered. When the fort was attacked a second time a few days later, Lobacz’s body could not be found.

In April 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the Fort Driant area for Lobacz and others still unaccounted for from the attack. While local residents were able to confirm several bodies had been recovered from the area, none of the remains could be identified as Lobacz. The AGRC performed a second search in 1950 but found no further remains and concluded they had exhausted all possibilities. Lobacz was declared non-recoverable in February 1951.

DPAA historians have been conducting ongoing research into Soldiers missing from the Lorraine Campaign and found that an unknown, X-60 Limey, buried at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, could be associated with Lobacz or two other Soldiers. X-60 was disinterred in June 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.

To identify Lobacz’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Casimer’s nephew, Charles Jones, received the U.S. flag from Casimer’s funeral service.

(U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)