BRISTOL, Pa. (WTAJ) — A soldier in the Army who died during World War II has finally been accounted for 77 years after being reported killed in action in 1944.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Army Pvt. Walter G. Wildman, 20, of Bristol, Pa. was accounted for on Jan. 26, 2022.

In November 1944, Wildman was assigned to Company M, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. His unit was part of the Hürtgen Forest offensive when he was reported killed in action on Nov. 13.

Due to the fighting, his body was unable to be recovered.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hürtgen area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains possibly belonged to Wildman. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, were sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.

Scientists from the DPAA used dental and anthropological methods along with material evidence to identify that the remains are Wildman.

Wildman`s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Wildman was then buried on May 23, 2022, in Newtown, Pennsylvania.