The remains of a WWII pilot from Michigan are identified 8 decades after a fatal bombing mission
Time:2024-05-21 10:30:22 Source:opinionsViews(143)
DETROIT (AP) — Military scientists have identified the remains of an Army Air Forces pilot from Michigan eight decades after he died during a World War II bombing mission in Southeast Asia.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Monday the remains of 2nd Lt. John E. McLauchlen Jr. of Detroit were identified in January and will be buried this summer at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
McLauchlen, 25, was the pilot of a B-24J Liberator bomber during a Dec. 1, 1943, bombing mission from India targeting a railroad yard in Myanmar, then known as Burma. After reaching the target, McLauchlen’s plane was reportedly hit by anti-aircraft fire, causing its left wing to catch fire.
The crippled plane was last seen with three enemy aircraft following it into the clouds and its crew members were later declared missing in action, the DPAA said.
In 1947, the remains of what were believed to be eight individuals involved in a potential B-24 Liberator crash were recovered in present-day Myanmar. They could not be identified and were interred as unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
One set of those remains was disinterred in October 2020 and sent for analysis by DPAA scientists.
Those remains were identified as McLauchlen’s through anthropological analysis, circumstantial and material evidence and DNA analysis, the DPAA said.
Previous:Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 26
Next:Independent UN experts urge Yemen’s Houthis to free detained Baha'i followers
You may also like
- Who is Jacob Zuma, the former South African president disqualified from next week's election?
- VOX POPULI: ‘Faitin’ spirit belies the social stress on young South Koreans
- Delhi smog: Years being taken off people's lives as China shows how to beat smog
- Democracy declines for 20th consecutive year, advocacy group says
- Four people killed in a house explosion in southwestern Missouri
- Russia, Germany, UK urge restraint as Iranian threat puts Middle East on edge
- Taylor Swift: Artist's music back on TikTok after dispute
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping
- Inquiry slams UK authorities for failures that killed thousands in infected blood scandal