WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. – A World War II soldier was finally laid to rest in Whitehall Township Monday, 82 years after his death.
As his niece, Joan Vannatta, waited with the procession outside the Whitehall Township Municipal Building, she couldn’t believe this day had finally come.
“When they called and said to me, ‘Mrs. Vannatta we have found your uncle, missing in 82 years in action. This is calling from Fort Knox,’ I thought, ‘yeah right,’ and I hung up,” said Vannatta.
But the military called back, letting her know this was very real. The remains of her uncle, Army Private First Class Howard Krapf, had finally been found and identified.
“DNA is a miracle, and that’s how we’re here today,” said Vannatta.
She watched as her uncle began the journey to his final resting place.
“They were honoring a fallen soldier who had died 82 years ago and now coming home to the United States from Germany. It was overwhelming,” said Vannatta.
He arrived in Fairview Cemetery under the flag he fought for, carried by soldiers, and greeted by the sound of taps. Krapf’s great-nephew, Aaron Vannatta, read a letter Krapf’s mother wrote the military two years after he didn’t come home from the war.
“I want him to have a military service. I do hope he will be found alive, but please don’t send anyone but my boy. From a heartbroken mother, Mrs. Stella Viola Krapf,” said Aaron Vannatta.
Stella didn’t live to see this day, but Joan accepted the flag on her behalf. Whitehall Township Mayor Joseph Marx said Krapf will be remembered.
“We’re going to have a hometown heroes banner made and put near his childhood home, and we’re going to have a memorial brick made,” said Marx.
A community, and a family, grateful for the chance to say goodbye.
“As a relative of Howard Krapf, thank you,” said Aaron Vannatta.
“He fought for our country, and thank God for our country and for the United States of America, and for our military who stands up and fights and protects us here at home,” said Joan Vannatta.