Rosettes recently were placed beside the names of U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan Knepper, left, and Army Pfc. Harry Hosfelt on the Wall of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. The rosettes signify that the remains of the two service members killed during World War II have been recovered and identified. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)
NAPLES, Italy — Two U.S. service members who died in Italy during World War II are no longer considered missing.
Rosettes were placed Friday beside the names of Army Pfc. Harry Hosfelt and Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan Knepper at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery’s Wall of the Missing in the Italian town of Nettuno, the American Battle Monuments Commission said in a statement Monday.
The bronze markers indicate that the remains of the service members have been identified.
Hosfelt was killed Feb. 9, 1944, during a battle with German forces near the town of Cisterna di Latina. The 20-year-old Connellsville, Pa., native was assigned to Company A, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.
His remains were recovered in March 1945, but officials did not have enough information to positively identify him. The remains subsequently were buried at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a June 6 statement.
In 2021, Hosfelt’s remains were exhumed and tested, and he ultimately was officially accounted for on Sept. 28, 2023, according to the DPAA. He was buried in Connellsville on June 29.
Rosettes placed recently on the Wall of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery indicate that the remains of two U.S. service members who went missing during World War II were recovered and identified. The rosettes were added July 19, 2024, beside the names of U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan Knepper and Army Pfc. Harry Hosfelt. (American Battle Monuments Commission)
Knepper, 27, of Lewiston, Idaho, was killed on July 10, 1943, when the P-38 Lightning fighter plane he was flying came under enemy fire and crashed near Caltagiorne in Sicily, the DPAA said in a separate statement July 11.
Knepper’s plane crashed in one of many sorties against enemy forces during Operation Husky, the first effort of Allied powers to take back Europe. More than 2,000 U.S. service members were killed in the operation.
From 2015 to 2023, the Defense Department and its partners researched, investigated and excavated a crash site near Caltagirone, recovering evidence and remains thought to be associated with Knepper. He was accounted for on Aug. 10, 2023, according to the DPAA.
Knepper, assigned to the 49th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group in the north African and Mediterranean theater, will be buried in Lewiston on Aug. 2, the DPAA said.
The rosettes for Hosfelt and Knepper are the 18th and 19th additions to the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery Wall of the Missing, which features the names of 3,095 U.S. service members, the AMBC said.
