James Rotunno

James Rotunno, US Army Veteran and Hero, whose remains were unaccounted for during World War II has been found and identified.

James is the beloved son of the late Secondo & Lucia Rotunno and loving brother of Amelia Parnofiello and the late Christine Monaco & Michelina Seddo. A funeral service will take place on April 22, 2023 from the Ippolito-Stellato Funeral Home, Lyndhurst, NJ at 10AM. A committal service will follow at 11AM at Holy Cross Chapel Mausoleum.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James Rotunno, 27, of Brooklyn, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 27, 2022.

In January 1945, Rotunno was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. The unit was engaged with German forces during the Battle of Reipertswiller in France and was surrounded, along with four other companies. The surrounded companies were given the order to attempt a break-out on Jan. 20, but only two men made it through German lines. The rest were either captured or killed. Rotunno was among those killed in the aftermath on Jan. 21, but his body could not be recovered because of the fighting.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Reipertswiller, finding 37 unidentified sets of American remains, none of which could be identified as Rotunno. He was declared non-recoverable on Oct. 11, 1951.

DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found that X-6049 St. Avold, which had been buried at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in St. Avold, France, could be associated with Rotunno. X-6049 was disinterred in June 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.

To identify Rotunnos remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Rotunnos name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Dinoz, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.



Cemetery
Holy Cross Chapel Mausoleum
340 Ridge Road
North Arlington NJ 07031
US


Funeral Service
Saturday, April 22, 2023
10:00 AM -
Ippolito-Stellato Funeral Home
425 Ridge Rd Lyndhurst, NJ US 07071
Lyndhurst NJ 07071
US


Cryptside service
Saturday, April 22, 2023
11:00 AM -
Holy Cross Chapel Mausoleum
340 Ridge Road
North Arlington NJ 07031
US


Funeral HomeIppolito-Stellato Funeral Home - Lyndhurst
425 Ridge Road
Lyndhurst NJ - 07071
US
(201) 438-4664