Buffalo Soldier Finally Identified After His Death in 1945

The remains of a Buffalo soldier have finally been identified after decades of disappearance. PFC. Lemuel Dent Jr. was in the African-American 92nd Infantry Division during World War II when he died in combat.

Dent Jr. was from Charles County, Maryland, when he went missing after a February 1945 battle on the Cinquale Canal in northwest Italy. His remains, which comprised half the body, were discovered three months later by the US Army Pardon Registry. However, limited technology left the remains, lacking chests, heads and arms, unable to be identified for more than half a century.

It was only almost 80 years later that the name of the missing soldier resurfaced. Before that, his body was buried as “unknown” at the American Cemetery in Florence. THE Washington Post reports that the 30-year-old remained one of 13 men lost that day. He is currently only the fourth of the names recovered.

His body was exhumed from the grave in June 2022 for the forensic analysis which led to his identification. The DNA from Dent Jr.’s thigh bone matched his family’s samples, providing closure for the loved ones who lost him long ago.

The generals considered the battle against the Nazi German soldiers a failure. However, they failed to recognize that inappropriate, racially motivated training was a significant factor.

Additionally, Dent Jr. was not the only Buffalo Division soldier missing in action. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has launched a project to recover the lost names of 50 personnel.

“These individuals were serving in a segregated military, in which they were not treated like other soldiers,” said forensic anthropologist Traci Van Deest of the DPAA. “They weren’t treated with the same type of honor and respect. »

The division’s namesake derives from a cohort of black American soldiers who served in the late 1800s. The 16th Division’s project aims to recover all those missing in the cohort’s final battle.

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