Upstate NY WWII soldier killed in France IDed after 77 years

Source: AP

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — The remains of a World War II soldier from upstate New York killed in France in 1944 have been identified, defense officials announced Friday.

U.S. Army Pfc. Morris E. Swackhammer, 20, of Binghamton was accounted for June 28, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. His family only recently received a full briefing on his identification.

Swackhammer was hit by German machine gun fire on Nov. 22, 1944 in woods northwest of the village of Fraize in France’s Alsace region. His squad had to leave his body behind in the face of the enemy attack.

U.S. personnel in 1945 recovered an unidentified body from a cemetery in Fraize they thought could have belonged to Swackhammer, but they could not confirm it.

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