US Army

Kermit E. Sargent - MIA in Germany 66 years ago

This photo shows the G.I. Kermit E. Sargent from Coulwood County/Va of the 26th Infantry Regiment ('Blue Spaders'). During a German counterattack on the village of Merode (near Aachen/west Germany) led by a paratrooper regiment on November 30, 1944 the mentioned US regiment lost 165 soldiers dead and 120 captured. Only one soldier was reported MIA on this day: Kermit E. Sargent. He was heavily wounded and died shortly after. He was then hastily buried in a shell-hole near a farm where a casualty station was established. His remains were recovered in the 1970's and buried on the local military cemetery - along with his former German paratrooper opponents. Authorities now succeeded to identify the remains, by 2012 Kermit E. Sargent will eventually be taken home since - still - no US casualty is supposed to rest on former enemy soil.