William F. Delaney

Company A 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

4th Infantry Division

KIA 11/22/1944

William Frank Delaney was born in Roane County, Tennessee on January 7, 1920.

He was drafted into the Army on November 14, 1942 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. His home of residence was
listed as Kingston, Roane County, Tennessee and his civilian occupation was listed as Farm Hands, General Farms.
He had completed grammar school and was single with dependents. His religion was listed as Protestant.

William F. Delaney before entering military service

Photo from WBIR 10NEWS website

Private First Class Delaney was killed in action in Germany during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest
on November 22, 1944 when shell fragments struck the foxhole he was in. ¹

Above: The entry for William F. Delaney in the casualty lists of the 22nd Infantry for the month of November 1944.

Courtesy of John Tomawski

The body of William F. Delaney was not identified. His name was inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the

Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial
Margraten
Eijsden-Margraten Municipality
Limburg, Netherlands

William F. Delaney's name on the Tablets of the Missing

Photo from the Fields of Honor - Database websiite

World War II soldier killed in foxhole during Germany battle is identified

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 12, 2019

KINGSTON, Tenn. — Roughly 75 years ago, U.S. Army soldier Frank Delaney was killed in a
foxhole during a fierce artillery battle in Germany during World War II.

His remains were never identified and the 24-year-old from Tennessee was deemed
unrecoverable. But now, thanks to a German citizen, investigative persistence and DNA
testing, Delaney is no longer a missing man.

Department of Defense officials said Monday that the remains of Army Pfc. William Frank
Delaney, of Kingston, Tenn., have been identified. Two military representatives visited
the home of a relative of Delaney's in Russellville, Kentucky, and informed him of the
identification, said Frankie Copeland, Delaney's niece.

Officials said the 24-year-old Delaney was fighting with the 4th Infantry Division when
his battalion launched an artillery strike against German soldiers near Grosshau in the
Hurtgen Forest on Nov. 22, 1944. An artillery shell struck Delaney's foxhole and he was killed.

Delaney was among hundreds of soldiers missing after combat in the Hurtgen Forest. After
the war, investigators with the American Graves Registration Command searched for remains
in Grosshau.

In 1947, a set of remains that had been discovered by local citizen Siegfried Glassen
were sent in for identification in Neuville, Belgium. But attempts to identify the
remains were unsuccessful.

Designated "X-5425 Neuville," the remains were buried in Neuville, at what today is
Ardennes American Cemetery, according to a news release from the Defense POW-MIA
Accounting Agency.

Historians and scientists studied documents and military records and were able to find a
likely association between "X-5425 Neuville" and Delaney.

The remains were disinterred in June 2017 and were analyzed using dental evidence and DNA
testing. Delaney was officially accounted for in December.

Copeland, who lives in Roane County, Tenn., told The Associated Press she was named after
her uncle, who went by Frank. A funeral has not been set, but Delaney is expected to be
buried near Kingston, Copeland said.

Copeland said Delaney's family had been told he had jumped off a tank, onto a land mine.

"All of this new information is quite enlightening to us," Copeland said in a telephone
interview. "We're glad the Army pursued information about what actually happened."

Delaney's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Netherlands American
Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. Officials say a rosette will be placed next to his
name to indicate he has been identified.

Officials say more than 72,000 U.S. servicemembers remain unaccounted for from World War II.

From the Stars and Stripes website

Roane County WWII veteran's remains returned home

Decades ago -- his family was told he stepped on a land mine and his remains couldn't be
found. Now a lifetime later, they finally know the truth and have closure.

Author: Shannon Smith
Published: 11:10 PM EDT May 22, 2019
Updated: 11:38 PM EDT May 22, 2019

KINGSTON, Tenn. — Nearly 75 years after he was killed in WWII, a Roane County veteran is
now home.

The family of U.S. Army Private First Class William Delaney was finally able to accept
his remains in a coffin covered with an American flag.

The coffin containing the remains of William Frank Delaney arrives at Knoxville's airport in May 2019

Photo from WBIR 10NEWS website

Delaney was killed in Germany in November of 1944.

Years ago his family was told he stepped on a landmine and no remains were found. Now, a
lifetime later, his remaining nieces and nephews have the truth and the closure their
family always hoped for.

That includes his niece Frankie Copeland, who never met her uncle.

"My parents and my grandmother didn't talk a lot about what had happened to him," said Copeland.

Delaney, who they called Frank, was killed in in WWII nine years before Copeland was born.

"I always kept his picture up because it meant a lot to me because I was named after him," she said.

She always felt close to her uncle.

"Even though I haven't met him, he showed me courage -- and so I think I need to step up
to the plate and tell his story," she said.

Copeland's family was told her uncle's remains were never found. But a few months ago,
that changed with a call from the military.

"They asked me would I be willing to do a DNA [test] and I told them 'of course,'" she said.

All it took for Copeland's namesake to come back home to Kingston was a sample of her DNA.

"When the military called me and told me that my DNA were the dots that connected him
back to my uncle, it was just amazing," she said.

Frankie Copeland the niece of William Frank Delaney. She was named after her uncle
and her DNA allowed his remains to be identified.

Photo from WBIR 10NEWS website

Copeland finally found out how her uncle really died.

The official record said an artillery shell hit his foxhole during a strike against
German soldiers near Grosshau in 1944, killing him.

He was 24 when he died. In 2017, his remains were disinterred from an unmarked tomb with
others who died in that battle -- and in December 2018 he was identified thanks to his
family.

"Away from home and in active battle. How scared he must have been and the challenges he
had to face," said Copeland.

On Wednesday, he came home.

"I'm just really grateful that this day has happened for him," said Copeland.

His niece was among the family members at McGhee Tyson Airport who will escort his
remains to Kingston where he'll be buried in his family plot.

Governor Bill Lee has declared a day of mourning from sunrise to sunset on Sunday, May
26, in honor of Delaney's service.

He will be buried on Monday, May 27, in Kingston.

That happens to be his sister's - Frankie's mom's - birthday.

Delaney family portrait. William Frank Delaney is on the right

Photo from WBIR 10NEWS website

BURIAL:
Lawnville Cemetery
Lawnville, Roane County, Tennessee

Grave marker for William F. Delaney

Photo by faeriegyrl7 from the Find A Grave website

¹ Paschendale with Treebursts by Robert S. Rush September 1996 pp. 62

Top photo of William F. Delaney from the Stars and Stripes website

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