Remains of WWII veteran killed in France returned to central S.D. home

U.S. Army Corp. Robert Bartlett killed in France in 1944 fighting Nazis

Corporal Robert Bartlett lies in state at the Isburg Funeral Chapels in Pierre. (Austin Goss/The Dakota Scout)

PIERRE — For 80 years, the family of Robert Bartlett has been left to wonder what happened to him after he was presumed killed during battle in occupied France.

But the mystery surrounding what happened to Bartlett’s remains finally came to a close on May 20 after he was accounted for and sent on his final journey home to South Dakota.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced in mid-July that Bartlett’s remains had been identified through the use of modern technology, dropping the former X-141 nomenclature given to the remains when they were initially discovered months after the battle that killed him.

It marks the end of a decades-long mystery for his family — all but one, a brother, had never met Robert.

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