Around 10-JUN, members of the 500th Medical Collecting Company examined the wreckage of LCI-92 and noted the burnt remains of servicemen in the troop compartment, where Smith and others were last seen. American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, removed small amounts of remains from LCI-92 and buried them in the United States Military Cemetery (USMC) St. Laurent-sur-Mer.
Beginning in 1946, AGRC analyzed the remains found in LCI-92, segregating them into four separate Unknowns (X-53, X-83, X-83B, and X-83C). Despite their efforts, AGRC were unable to identify the Unknowns at the time and they were interred in Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Normandy, France.
In June and August 2021, the Department of Defense and ABMC officials exhumed the comingled remains of the four Unknowns and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis. To identify Smith’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Pvt. Smith’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Pvt. Smith will be buried 11-NOV 2024, in St. Louis, Missouri.
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