Missing for decades: Body of Upstate soldier killed in WWII laid to rest

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Nearly 80 years after he was killed in action, a soldier from the Upstate was finally laid to rest on Sunday

On Nov. 14, 1944, Army Staff Sgt. Grady ‘Haskell’ Canup was killed when enemy artillery hit near his foxhole. Canup, a 30-year-old from Greenwood, fought at Hürtgen Forest, a long and fierce battle near the border between Germany and Belgium.

Canup’s body couldn’t be recovered due to the fighting. Despite multiple investigations in the area by the American Graves Registration Command, he was declared non-recoverable in 1951.

But that all changed in 2019.

Canup’s identification tag was found in the Hürtgen Forest near where a set of unidentified remains had been recovered. Officials disinterred the remains from a European cemetery in April 2019 to examine them.

Scientists from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) used dental records, anthropological analysis, and material evidence to confirm Canup was the unidentified soldier.

DPAA announced the findings in March 2022.

“This is something for 78 years we had wondered would he ever come home. He’s home, so there is closure for us,” said his niece Janet Hawkins.

Canup was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Anderson County after a service by McDougald Funeral Home on April 10.

Family and fellow veterans were in attendance.

“Every veteran ought to be honored and appreciated. Especially World War II veterans because of what they did for their country,” said Vietnam Veteran Gary Murphy.

To mark that he is now accounted for, a rosette will be placed next to Canup’s name on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery.

You can watch the full service here.

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