On December 22, 5 days after the massacre at Malmedy Belgium you will find the first message about men who are missing in action.
In the morning report of the RCN Company of the 3rd Armored Division 8 enlisted men and 2 officers are missing, here are their names.
1st Lt, Mc Dermott Thomas E.
2nd Lt. Iames Lloyd A.
T3. Mc Gee James G.
Sgt. Anderson Vernon
Sgt. Lewis Marvin J.
Cpl. Wendt Walter J.
Cpl. Cumming J.I.
Cpl. Bojarski Edward
Pvt. Klukavy John
Pvt Barron William E.
Just think about it that 5 days after the massacre men didn’t know what had happened. Maybe they have heard a rumor but no details.
Till the end of December just one soldier is mentioned again in the morning reports because he was AWOL and that is Cpl. Bojarski.
By January of 1945, the combined efforts of the Allied armies drove the Germans back to their original starting positions in the Battle of the Bulge. U.S. troops then reached the sight of the massacre, now buried under two feet of winter snow.
Mine detectors were used to locate the 81 bodies, which had rested undisturbed since the day of the shootings and by now had frozen into grotesque positions. Forty-one of the bodies were found to have been shot in the head. As each body was uncovered it was numbered.
Between those bodies where 4 men from the list above:
1st Lt, Mc Dermott Thomas E.
2nd Lt. Iames Lloyd A.
T3. Mc Gee James G.
Pvt. Klukavy John
About the 5 others I have no other information at this moment, but it is possible that they became a Prisoner of War.
You can read about the men of the 3rd Armored Division and find the maps under this same Tab.
May they rest in peace, their fight for our freedom will never be forgotten.
© 3d Armored Division Memorial Group (3ADMG)