GRAND HAVEN, MI -- GRAND HAVEN, MI -- The remains of a West Michigan native killed in the Pacific Theater during World War II have been identified using DNA and other technology.

Staff with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said the remains, recovered in Papua New Guinea, have been identified as that of U.S. Army Technician Fifth Grade Ell T. Simantz, 23, of Grand Haven.

Thre remains were identified on May 9.

Simantz was reported to be killed in action in December 1942 during an Allied campaign against fortified enemy positions.

He served with the Service Company, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division.

The soldier’s remains were not recovered after the war.

But later, the military unit called the American Graves Restoration Service began exhuming remains from 11,000 gra

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