Army Pfc. Nicholas Hartman of Houston, killed on D-Day, has been identified and will be buried at home after nearly 80 years.
HOUSTON — More than 80 years after his death, an Army medic from Houston has been accounted for. Nicholas Hartman was 20 when he died during World War II.
After Hartman’s family received a full briefing on his identification, officials released additional details about his case.
Hartman served with the 500th Medical Collecting Company, 60th Medical Battalion. On June 6, 1944, D-Day, he was aboard Landing Craft Infantry (Large) 92 with about 200 other service members headed for Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. The landing craft struck an underwater mine and came under enemy artillery fire, setting the vessel ablaze. A blast ignited the ship’s fuel, and all those in the troop compartment, including Hartman, were killed instantly. The chaotic scene made it impossible to search for survivors, and Hartman was never accounted for after the war.
A few days later, fellow service members found burnt remains inside the wreckage, and the American Graves Registration Command recovered some remains and buried them at the United States Military Cemetery in St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France.
In 1946, officials sorted the remains into four Unknowns — X-53, X-83, X-83B and X-83C — which were interred at Normandy American Cemetery. Their identities remained a mystery for decades.
In 2021, the Department of Defense and officials from the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed the comingled remains and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Hartman was identified through anthropological analysis, mitochondrial DNA testing and circumstantial evidence. He was officially accounted for on May 2, 2025.
The Defense Department included newspaper clipping about Hartman. One clip featured 16-year-old Hartman as a delivery boy for the Houston Chronicle.
“My favorite spare time activities are hunting and fishing,” the feature reads. “I also like to swim and play ball and go to the movies.”
A second newspaper clipping describes Harris County men who were killed, missing, wounded and prisoners of war that week. It said Hartman was employed at the Houston Shipbuilding Company.
Hartman’s name appears on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Soon, a rosette will be added next to his name, signaling he has been accounted for.
Plans for Hartman’s burial in his hometown are underway, with a date to be determined. For funeral details, contact the Army Casualty Office at 800-892-2490.