Remains of WWII tanker from Indiana accounted for nearly 80 years later

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A U.S. Army tanker from Indiana that was believed to have been killed during World War II was finally accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in July.

U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Gene Walker, 27, was killed during World War II. The Richmond, Indiana, native was assigned to Company H, 3rd Battalion, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division in November 1944.

While there, he served as the commander of an M4 Sherman tank. The release says while his unit was battling German forces near Hücheln, Germany, his tank was hit by an 88mm anti-tank round, setting the tank on fire.

Walker is believed to have been killed instantly by the hit. Surviving crew members were able to escape the tank, but were unable to pull Walker from the blaze due to heavy fighting.

The War Department presumed him dead in April 1945.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe, the release says. In 1948, investigators searched the Hücheln area, but could not locate Walker.

Years later, a DPAA historian studying American losses in the Hücheln area determined that a set of unidentified remains recovered from a burnt tank in December 1944 could have belonged to Walker. The remains, which were buried in the Henri-Chapelle U.S. Military Cemetery in Belgium, were exhumed in August 2021 and sent to a laboratory for analysis.

Through anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence, Walker’s remains were identified. He was then accounted for on July 21.

Walker’s remains will be buried in San Diego, California, in early 2024.

His name was also recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, along with others still missing from WWII. The release says a rosette will be placed by his name to show that he has been found.