Union Grove burial: Sgt. Matuszak, missing during WWII, laid to rest

UNION GROVE, Wis. - Sgt. Thaddeus Matuszak fought for your freedom in World War II but never made it home until now. 

The Army sergeant from Wisconsin fought in World War II. He still has family here.

Decades later, Sgt. Matuszak is finally home.

"Being a soldier and just knowing the Army doesn't give up on you after 80 years," said Timothy Morrison. 

Matuszak went missing during WWII in 1944. The Army says he and his unit were fighting across France that summer when the Germans attacked.

"He was in France during the war in 1944-45, and of course, the fighting was still going on, and he did pass on German soil, so we couldn't go in and recover them safely," said Morrison.

After the war, the American Graves Registration Command searched the area and brought home those remains. It wasn't until 2022, after extensive research, that 31-year-old Sgt. Matuszak was identified.

"Dental records, his service records, the history of where the body was found, anthropological, and then once they get the group small enough, they start asking for next of kin for DNA samples," said Morrison. 

Morrison said his next of kin is a nephew.

"Because it was 1944, 1945, it's difficult because they didn't have DNA on file," he said.

On Monday, June 12, Matuszak was given a proper burial, honored in Union Grove at the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

Nearly 80 years later, Sergeant Matuszak, who paid the ultimate sacrifice, is finally at rest.

Matuszak was one of at least 75 soldiers recovered from the Horseshoe Forest where he died. 

Morrison said some of those remains are still missing, while others just have yet to be identified.