YUMA — For more then 60 years, Yuma resident Jewel Marie Gresham had no idea what had happened to her brother, James Wilfred Turner, who was listed as missing in action after the World War II Battle of Hurtgen Forest in 1944.
Now Gresham and the rest of her family have some closure. Her brother's remains have been positively identified after their discovery in 2005 in a shallow grave near the town of Vossenack, Germany, by a resident.
"Apparently he was out looking for some wartime relics when he came across my brother," Gresham said. "It still hurts after all these years. We pretty much knew something had happened, we just didn't have much information about it."
On Thursday, the remains of Turner, who was 19 when he was killed, will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., with full military honors. Gresham and several members of her family from here and in Oklahoma will be attending the ceremony.
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"I never knew him because he was killed before I was born," said niece Charlene Lowe.
"But this brings closure to the family."
Turner's wife at the time, who now lives in Texas, will also be attending the funeral, along with her daughter from another marriage. She and Turner had been married for less then two years when he was killed.
The Battle of Hurtgen Forest was the name given to a series of fierce fights between U.S. and German forces.
The battle, which took place between Sept. 19, 1944, and Feb. 10, 1945, over 50 square miles of forest east of the Belgian-German border, was also the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought, according to the Web site www.historynet.com.
"He had just got over there and wound up right in the middle of it. The poor kid never had a chance," Gresham said. "He got there in September and was killed in November. He and three other soldiers had been cut off from their unit and were killed."
The battle claimed 24,000 Americans killed, missing, captured and wounded, plus another 9,000 who died later of battle-related causes.
A not-so-well-known engagement, the Battle of Hurtgen Forest was overshadowed by the American victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
Gresham, now 87, was only 20 when her family was informed that her brother, who was assigned to the 28th infantry division, had gone missing in the battle.
"We got very little information about it," said Gresham, who has lived in Yuma the past 20 years.
Turner never lived in Yuma, as the family is originally from the Norman, Okla., area.
Gresham and her brother, who were close, were the oldest of seven children, so she said the news about her brother was particularly difficult for her.
Gresham and Lowe said although the German resident found the remains in December 2005 they weren't notified until about six weeks ago, when his remains were positively identified.
Turner's dog tag found
According to a report from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, the German resident uncovered the remains along with some personal effects, including a military identification tag stamped with his name.
The German resident then contacted the United States Memorial Affairs Activity Europe in Landstuhl.
The reports state that the location where the remains were uncovered corresponded to the location of elements of the 112th infantry regiment, 28th Division, on Nov. 9, 1944. Four men from G Company from that location, including Turner, had been unaccounted for.
In addition to the identification tag, he was also identified through dental records and DNA. According to the report, there was evidence of a possible head wound.
Lowe said that when they were informed that Turner's remains had been found, they were visited by representatives of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, who gave Gresham a small box that contained one of her brother's dog tags.
"When she saw that, she just broke down and cried," Lowe said. "It was really rough for her."
