Army Pfc. Arthur W. Crossland Jr., who was killed during World War II, is coming home. His remains will be interred Friday at Fort Jackson National Cemetery in Columbia, S.C.

Crossland, a native of Columbia, was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 242nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division in the European Theater. He was killed in action in March 1945 at age 19 while engaged in battle with German forces near Althorn, France.

Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1944, German forces launched a major offensive operation in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine, France, known as Operation NORDWIND. The German attack surged through Allied defenses along the Franco-German border, and the ensuing battle enveloped two U.S. Corps along a 40-mile-wide front. In the following few weeks, Company L was assigned to move near Althorn, France. Intense fighting ensued in the heavily wooded terrain filled with minefields, and mortars and machine gun fire halted Company L’s advance. Witnesses said they saw Crossland trigger a mine roughly 200 yards in front of the main resistance line. He was killed instantly, but U.S. forces had to withdraw before they could recover his body.

Crossland’s remains were accounted for on Aug. 21, 2024, by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. He will be buried with full military honors.