A World War II soldier has finally been brought back home to Colorado, 80 years after he was killed in combat overseas.
Homecoming with military honors
Staff Sgt. Harold Schafer was laid to rest at Denver’s Fort Logan National Cemetery on Monday morning with a full military honors service, complete with bagpipes and a 21-gun salute. Schafer, who was 28 years old when he died, was killed while fighting in Germany in 1944.
Schafer joined the Army in 1943 and was deployed to Europe the following year as part of the 90th Infantry Division. His unit crossed the Saar River on December 6, 1944, attempting to capture and hold the towns of Pachten and Dillingen, Germany. Four days later, Schafer was “mortally wounded” by machine gun fire. His fellow servicemen were unable to recover his body and those of other fallen soldiers before relocating to a safe area, according to the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Long road to identification
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command conducted several investigations in the Pachten-Dillingen area from 1946 to 1950, recovering and identifying bodies of servicemen from Schafer’s division who had been buried at a civilian cemetery in Reimsbach, Germany. However, Schafer’s remains were not identified until September 26, 2023.
Heartbreaking loss and final homecoming
Schafer was reportedly killed in a foxhole while trying to help a fellow soldier, CBS News reported. “It was just heartbreaking, especially to my grandma,” said Barb Bernhard, Schafer’s niece. “My grandma was never the same.”
The family’s pain was exacerbated by the fact that they never got to bury Schafer’s body. The identification of his remains so many years later was a welcome surprise. “I was just so happy and amazed,” Bernhardt told CBS.
Monday’s service brought the family both relief and peace as they finally got to honor Schafer and lay him to rest. “Grandma, we got him home. He’s home. It’s all you ever wanted was to have him home,” Bernhardt said.