Remains accounted for former ‘unrecoverable’ Texas WWII soldier

ROUND MOUNTAIN, Texas (KAUZ) - A 29-year-old from Round Mountain, Texas, has officially been accounted for on October 10, 2025, after being killed during World War II.

The soldier was identified as U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dayton Polvado and his family were contacted to give their briefing.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency shared that in late 1944, Polvado was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division. His battalion was engaged in combat near Pachten, Germany, when he was killed in action on Dec. 12.

Polvado’s body could not able to be recovered due to heavy fighting and an American withdrawal from the area. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency stated that many casualties were nonrecoverable due to continued German resistance at the time.

Polvado would remain missing in action until 1946, when an American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) team recovered five sets of unknown, buried alongside each other in a small cemetery in Pachten, Germany. Two of the five unknown bodies would be identified, with Polvado among the three who would be unrecoverable, per the AGRC team.

Later in 2021, dental, anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence, were used to identify Polvado’s remains.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency shared that U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dayton Polvado’s name was recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, in St. Avold, France, along with the others still missing from World War II. They said a rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Polvado’s remains are set to be sent to his family in his hometown.