World War II soldier from Kentucky to be buried in hometown

Published 6:23 am Monday, October 4, 2021

The remains of a Kentucky soldier killed during World War II will be buried this month in his hometown, the Army said.

The burial at Wind Cave Baptist Church in McKee for Pfc. Berton J. McQueen was rescheduled for Oct. 16 and will follow funeral services by Lakes Funeral Home in McKee.

McQueen, 20, was accounted for in July, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said earlier.

McQueen was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division in November 1944 as troops battled the German infantry in Clefcy, the agency said. He was mortally wounded and died Nov. 23 at an aid station after the 1st Battalion was forced to abandon the city. When German troops withdrew, his body wasn’t found.

Remains recovered in 1946 from a garden in Clefcy couldn’t be identified at the time but were exhumed in 2019 and confirmed as McQueen though research, DNA testing and dental and anthropological analysis.