said. "That's why the DNA is so important."

PFC Gordon's descendants — and his namesake nephew in particular — are ready to close the hole in their family history, and bring the soldier's remains home.

Lawrence R. Gordon was certain the remains were his uncle's even before the French completed their DNA analysis.

The lawyer from Medicine Hat, Alberta, was at the German ossuary in Normandy with Henry when a forensic investigator removed the remains of X-356 from a burial container and compared the lower jaw to his uncle's enlistment dental records. The jaw and the records were consistent: The wisdom teeth were gone, and the third tooth on the right side of the lower jaw was missing.

Henry also superimposed a picture of the skull of X-356 on top of aname on it.

His nephews plan to bring him home to his birthplace in Saskatchewan, Canada, and bury him on the 70th anniversary of his death in a cemetery on a hillside overlooking the picturesque town near where he grew up. His grave will have a military cross specially made to match the ones in the Brittany American cemetery near St. James, Normandy.

The cross will say: PFC Lawrence S Gordon, Missing In Action Until 2013.

Gordon was a Canadian, but both of his parents were U.S. citizens. He enlisted in the U.S. Army while working on a ranch in Wyoming.

On Aug. 13, 1944, Gordon was believed to be commanding an M8 armored vehicle when it was struck by a German anti-tank shell. The only survivor of the blast was the