Remains of soldiers killed on D-Day returned to Kansas

EMPORIA, Kan. (KSNW) – The remains of an American soldier killed during the Invasion of Normandy during World War II have returned to Kansas.

Sergeant John O. Herrick of Emporia was assigned to the 149th Engineer Combat Battalion. On June 6, 1944, Sgt. Herrick was one of 200 soldiers and 25 U.S. Coast Guard crew members aboard a landing craft approaching Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day.

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, The ship was hit by enemy mortars and grenades before striking a mine, igniting the fuel in the forward troop compartment and instantly killing the men inside. The remains of the soldiers in the compartment were eventually recovered, but could not be identified. They were buried as unknowns at the American cemetery in Normandy. In 2021, the unidentified remains were transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

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The lab was able to identify one set that belonged to Sgt. Herrick in August 2023. A special funeral service will be held on Monday, Veterans Day, for Sgt. Herrick in his hometown of Emporia.

Congressman Ed Rees of Emporia introduced the bill establishing the Veterans Day holiday, which was signed into law in 1954 by World War II general Kansan and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Sgt. Herrick himself was too born on that day in 1924.

He was only 19 years old when he died. He will be buried in Maplewood Memorial Lawn Cemetery in Emporia.

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