WWII staff sergeant to be laid to rest in Round Mountain 81 years later
Staff Sergeant Dayton Polvado of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division. Photos courtesy of U.S. Army and Crofts-Crow Funeral Home
A long-lost World War II staff sergeant has returned home after nearly 81 years and will be laid to rest on Saturday, April 18, at the Round Mountain Cemetery, following a tribute and honors of his service.
Staff sergeant Dayton Polvado, of Round Mountain, went missing on Dec. 12, 1944, in Dillingen, Germany, in the midst of a German counterattack at the height of WWII. Until recently, his unidentified remains had been kept at the Lorraine American Cemetery in Saint-Avold, France.
Polvado’s tribute will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday with a funeral procession at the Crofts-Crow Funeral Home in Johnson City. The schedule is as follows.
- 10:00 a.m. – Procession will leave the Crofts-Crow Funeral Home (305 East Elm Street, Johnson City) with the Patriot Riders of San Antonio
- 10:15 a.m. – Procession will pause at the Blanco County Veterans Memorial for a moment of silence and reflection (300 North Nugent, Johnson City)
- 11:00 a.m. – Full military honors graveside service at Round Mountain Cemetery (100-154 Round Mountain Cemetery Road, Round Mountain)
- Reception to follow the service at Liberty Lighthouse Fellowship (321 Old River Crossing, Johnson City)
Who was Staff Sergeant Dayton Polvado?
SSG Dayton Polvado was born in Round Mountain on June 29, 1915, to Monroe and Edna Durbin Polvado, and lived with his nine siblings.
Polvado was drafted into the Army on March 25, 1942, where he would go on to battle in England and France, and take part in D-Day amongst other valiant achievements.
Polvado was 29 years old when he and fellow staff sergeant Zebulon Gilman, both of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, were ordered to hold a pillbox guard-post in Dillingen that would eventually be overrun by German troops.
Through several years of effort post-WWII by the American Graves Registration Command, Polvado and Gilman’s bodies were recovered along with three additional soldier’s remains. At the time, only Gilman’s body was able to be identified.
The four unidentifiable soldiers, including Polvado, were buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery in Saint-Avold, France, and their names were placed on the Wall of the Missing.
Polvado’s service was awarded post-mortem with the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart, with two Oak Leaf Clusters to signify three wounds received in action.
Decades later, DNA samples given by maternal cousins Lloyd Smith and Kimberly Carr Cecotti led the way for Polvado’s remains to be identified, prompting his return home.
For more on Polvado’s service, or to leave a comment in memoriam, visit Polvado’s obituary online here.