thedrifter
10-12-07, 06:54 AM
Remains of 9 WWII airmen identified, will be returned for burial
By Ken Thomas
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:26 p.m. October 11, 2007
WASHINGTON – The remains of nine U.S. airmen, missing in action since a World War II mission over Germany, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial, the Pentagon said Thursday.
The men were aboard a B-24J Liberator on a mission to bomb a German aircraft factory near Bernburg, Germany. The plane, which departed North Pickenham, England, was last seen by U.S. aircrew members in that area. Captured records showed that it crashed near Westeregeln, about 20 miles northwest of the target, the Defense Department said.
A group of German citizens learned of a potential crash site south of Westeregeln in 2001. Later that year and in early 2002 they uncovered human remains from what appeared to be two burial locations, the Pentagon said. The remains, including identification tags, were turned over to U.S. officials.
In 2003, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command excavated the crash site and found additional remains, identification tags and non-biological material evidence.
Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used dental records, mitochondrial DNA and other tools to identify the remains.
Army officials have met with the airmen's next-of-kin to discuss the recovery and identification process and to coordinate burial with full military honors, the Pentagon said.
The airmen were identified as:
1st Lt. David P. McMurray, of Melrose, Mass.
1st Lt. Raymond Pascual, of Houston, Texas.
2nd Lt. Millard C. Wells Jr., of Paris, Ky.
Tech Sgt. Leonard J. Ray, of Upper Falls, Md.
Tech Sgt. Hyman L. Stiglitz, of Boston, Mass.
Staff Sgt. Robert L. Cotey, of Vergennes, Vt.
Staff Sgt. Francis E. Larrivee, of Laconia, N.H.
Staff Sgt. Robert J. Flood, of Neelyton, Pa.
Staff Sgt. Walter O. Schlosser, of Lake City, Mich.
Last week, Ray was buried in Harford County, Md., and Flood in Dry Run, Pa. The burials of the other servicemen will be at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington at a later date, the Pentagon said.
Paul Arnett, a Mesa, Ariz., historian for www.492ndbombgroup.com and the son of a pilot for the same bomber group, said the 492nd was known as the “hard-luck group” and the nine men were known as the “hard-luck crew” because they typically returned battered from their missions.
Arnett said when he recounts the crew's history, he likens their durability to a Timex watch.
“If there was anyone who could take anything,” Arnett said, “it was these guys.”
On the Net:
Pentagon site on missing Americans: www.dtic.mil/dpmo
Ellie
By Ken Thomas
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:26 p.m. October 11, 2007
WASHINGTON – The remains of nine U.S. airmen, missing in action since a World War II mission over Germany, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial, the Pentagon said Thursday.
The men were aboard a B-24J Liberator on a mission to bomb a German aircraft factory near Bernburg, Germany. The plane, which departed North Pickenham, England, was last seen by U.S. aircrew members in that area. Captured records showed that it crashed near Westeregeln, about 20 miles northwest of the target, the Defense Department said.
A group of German citizens learned of a potential crash site south of Westeregeln in 2001. Later that year and in early 2002 they uncovered human remains from what appeared to be two burial locations, the Pentagon said. The remains, including identification tags, were turned over to U.S. officials.
In 2003, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command excavated the crash site and found additional remains, identification tags and non-biological material evidence.
Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used dental records, mitochondrial DNA and other tools to identify the remains.
Army officials have met with the airmen's next-of-kin to discuss the recovery and identification process and to coordinate burial with full military honors, the Pentagon said.
The airmen were identified as:
1st Lt. David P. McMurray, of Melrose, Mass.
1st Lt. Raymond Pascual, of Houston, Texas.
2nd Lt. Millard C. Wells Jr., of Paris, Ky.
Tech Sgt. Leonard J. Ray, of Upper Falls, Md.
Tech Sgt. Hyman L. Stiglitz, of Boston, Mass.
Staff Sgt. Robert L. Cotey, of Vergennes, Vt.
Staff Sgt. Francis E. Larrivee, of Laconia, N.H.
Staff Sgt. Robert J. Flood, of Neelyton, Pa.
Staff Sgt. Walter O. Schlosser, of Lake City, Mich.
Last week, Ray was buried in Harford County, Md., and Flood in Dry Run, Pa. The burials of the other servicemen will be at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington at a later date, the Pentagon said.
Paul Arnett, a Mesa, Ariz., historian for www.492ndbombgroup.com and the son of a pilot for the same bomber group, said the 492nd was known as the “hard-luck group” and the nine men were known as the “hard-luck crew” because they typically returned battered from their missions.
Arnett said when he recounts the crew's history, he likens their durability to a Timex watch.
“If there was anyone who could take anything,” Arnett said, “it was these guys.”
On the Net:
Pentagon site on missing Americans: www.dtic.mil/dpmo
Ellie