Army 2nd Lt. Gene F. Walker, an M4 Sherman Tank commander, was killed in action in November 1944 at age 27 near Hücheln, Germany. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)

The remains of U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Gene F. Walker, an M4 Sherman Tank commander killed during World War II, will be interred Jan. 26 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

Walker, a native of Richmond, Ind., was assigned to Company H, 3rd Battalion, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division. He was killed in action in November 1944 at age 27 when his tank was hit by an 88mm anti-tank round near Hücheln, Germany. Surviving crew members bailed out of the tank but were unable to remove Walker due to heavy fighting. A presumptive finding of death was issued in April 1945.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency determined that one set of unidentified remains recovered in December 1944 from one of the burned-out tanks possibly belonged to Walker. The remains, which had been buried in Henri-Chapelle U.S. Military Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium, were disinterred in August 2021 for laboratory analysis.

Walker was accounted for by the DPAA July 21, 2023, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence as well as anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Walker’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.