Kentucky veteran’s remains return home 79 years after being killed during WWII

RADCLIFF, Ky. (WAVE) - The remains of Army Private First Class Charles Wells of Leitchfield, Kentucky were laid to rest Thursday at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central in Radcliff.

Wells voluntarily enlisted in the Army in February of 1942. Two years later he was killed in battle while serving in Burma.

Through DNA testing, his remains were only recently identified.

Though they didn’t know him, dozens of other veterans alongside Wells’ living family members were there Thursday to honor him.

“There’s no spot you can pay for [in the cemetery],’ said cemetery manger Shane Lagrone. “Every spot here is earned and that’s why more than 9,500 people out here that have earned a spot to be here. Private Wells is one of them.”

Possibly the last person alive who knew Private First Class Wells is his first cousin Lillie Mae Wells Wolf who was just 14 years old when he died in 1944.

PFC Wells’s niece, Diana Reinhardt learned late in life about her uncle, but it was her DNA that helped identify him.

Wolf and Reinhardt were both grateful so many people showed up.