ARLINGTON, Va. (Oct. 21, 2022) — The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) announces U.S. Army Pvt. John P. Cooper, who was killed in World War II, has been accounted for nearly 80 years after his death.

His remains, previously interred as an unknown at ABMC’s Luxembourg American Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg, are now set for burial in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on Oct. 22, 2022.

Cooper was presumed dead on March 8, 1946, a year after his M4 Sherman tank was struck by a German rocket near Lampaden, Germany. Though several investigations were undertaken in the years that followed, his remains could not be found and he was declared non-recoverable in Oct. 1951.

Unidentified remains, listed as “X-562 Hamm” and buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery, were disinterred in June 2021 and sent to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) laboratory in Nebraska for analysis.

Cooper was officially accounted for on June 21, 2022.

A native of Athens, Texas, Cooper was 37 at the time of his death. He was assigned to Company B, 778th Tank Battalion.

Cooper’s name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold, France, along with more than 400 others who are still missing from World War II. ABMC has placed a bronze rosette beside his name, indicating he has now been accounted for.

For more information on Cooper, visit the DPAA website.

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