The remains of US Army Private First Class John A. Walko, killed during the Second World War, have been returned to his hometown of Commodore, Pennsylvania, more than 80 years after his death. Walko died on 20 October 1944 during the Battle of Aachen in Germany, and his remains were not accounted for after the war.
Walko's remains were initially interred as unknown at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium, designated X-99 Henri-Chapelle. In 2022, the US Defense Department and American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed the remains and transferred them to a laboratory of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Scientists used anthropological analysis, material evidence, and DNA testing to positively identify the remains as Walko.
Walko's sister, Sally Gaydosh, now 96, had waited nearly eight decades for news of her brother. She told Cleveland.com that the family had never given up hope. Her daughter, Holly Gaydosh, described the return as 'bittersweet'. The DPAA deemed Walko accounted for in July 2025 after the family submitted DNA samples.
Earlier this month, a veterans' motorcycle group escorted Walko's remains from Pittsburgh airport to Commodore. Residents lined Main Street, waving American flags, as the hearse passed. Local firefighters displayed a large flag on a firetruck. Walko was interred on Wednesday, buried alongside his parents and brother.
In a separate case, the DPAA announced on 22 May that US Army Air Forces 2nd Lieutenant Robert J. Barrat, killed in a bombing mission over Germany in 1945, had also been identified through DNA analysis. His remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on 27 May.
