World War II Airmen’s Remains Brought Home – Airplanes

The Department of Defense announced that military investigators have found and identified the remains of nine airmen who went missing in action during World War II. After the remains were identified using DNA and dental records, they were returned to the United States. Several of the airmen were to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery along with human remains from the site that could not be identified. Five of the crash victims were to be buried at another location.

The Department of Defense announced that military investigators have found and identified the remains of nine airmen who went missing in action during World War II. After the remains were identified using DNA and dental records, they were returned to the United States. Several of the airmen were to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery along with human remains from the site that could not be identified. Five of the crash victims were to be buried at another location.

The men’s B-24 Liberator disappeared over Papua New Guinea in 1943 after reporting a successful attack against a Japanese convoy. The crashed plane wasn’t discovered until 2002 because of the inaccessibility and remoteness of New Guinea’s jungles where it’s estimated that several hundred American planes crashed. Excavations of the sites are ongoing and more remains of World War II soldiers may be identified over time.