US historians ID a New Mexico soldier killed during WWII, but work remains on thousands of cases

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — After years of research and DNA testing, historians have identified the remains of an Army private from eastern New Mexico who died during World War II. Homer Mitchell was 20 when he was killed during a battle in Germany. It was just months after he and thousands of other troops landed in Normandy. Mitchell is one of nearly 160 service members accounted for over the past year as part of a massive effort headed by a special team of U.S. government researchers. Mitchell’s family says getting the news of the positive identification has been surreal. The list of U.S. service members yet to be accounted for from various conflicts stands at more than 81,000.