WASHINGTON-The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Hood E. Cole, 26, of Atlanta, Georgia, killed during World War II, was accounted for Feb. 22, 2023. In January 1945, Cole was assigned to L Company, 3rd Battalion, 276th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division. On Jan. 14, Cole was killed in action when his unit was attacked by German forces near Baerenthal, France. At some point during the fighting, Cole was killed, but historical records do not indicate exactly where. Due to the fighting, his body was unable to be immediately recovered. Beginning in 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Baerenthal. None of the investigations uncovered any leads regarding the disposition of Cole's remains. He was declared non-recoverable on May 11, 1951. DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Baerenthal and found that X-9441 and X-9442 Frankfurt Mausoleum, buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in in Neupré, Belgium, could be associated with Cole. X-9441 and X-9442 were disinterred in April 2018 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis. To identify Cole's remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and dental analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis. Cole's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinozé, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Cole will be buried on January 15, 2024, in Canton, Georgia.
Source: Find a Grave