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Remains of 9 WWII airmen identified - Yahoo! News
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Investigators have identified the remains of nine World War II airmen whose bomber disappeared over Papua New Guinea in 1943, officials said.
The Department of Defense made the announcement Tuesday.
The crash site was found in 2002 after a local government official contacted a team of military investigators exploring an unrelated crash site. The official turned over aircraft data plates, human remains and identification tags.
Investigators spent eight weeks excavating the site and used DNA testing and dental records to identify U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Arthur Armacost III, of Cincinnati; 2nd Lt. Charles Feucht, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio; 1st Lt. William Hafner, of Norfolk, Va.; 2nd Lt. David Eppright, of Warrensburg, Mo.; 2nd Lt. Charles Cisneros, of San Antonio; Technical Sgt. Alfred Hill, of Temple, Okla.; Technical Sgt. James Lascelles, of New York City; Staff Sgt. William Cameron, of Los Angeles; and Staff Sgt. Wilburn Rozzell, of Duncan, Okla.
The men were members of the 63rd Squadron, 43 Bombardment Group and were flying a reconnaissance mission over the Bismarck Sea. Their B-24 Liberator disappeared after attacking a convoy of Japanese ships it had followed.
Armacost, Cameron, Hafner and Lascelles were to be buried Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery, as were the group remains that couldn't be matched specifically to any missing airman. Individual remains of the other five have been buried elsewhere.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Investigators have identified the remains of nine World War II airmen whose bomber disappeared over Papua New Guinea in 1943, officials said.
The Department of Defense made the announcement Tuesday.
The crash site was found in 2002 after a local government official contacted a team of military investigators exploring an unrelated crash site. The official turned over aircraft data plates, human remains and identification tags.
Investigators spent eight weeks excavating the site and used DNA testing and dental records to identify U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Arthur Armacost III, of Cincinnati; 2nd Lt. Charles Feucht, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio; 1st Lt. William Hafner, of Norfolk, Va.; 2nd Lt. David Eppright, of Warrensburg, Mo.; 2nd Lt. Charles Cisneros, of San Antonio; Technical Sgt. Alfred Hill, of Temple, Okla.; Technical Sgt. James Lascelles, of New York City; Staff Sgt. William Cameron, of Los Angeles; and Staff Sgt. Wilburn Rozzell, of Duncan, Okla.
The men were members of the 63rd Squadron, 43 Bombardment Group and were flying a reconnaissance mission over the Bismarck Sea. Their B-24 Liberator disappeared after attacking a convoy of Japanese ships it had followed.
Armacost, Cameron, Hafner and Lascelles were to be buried Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery, as were the group remains that couldn't be matched specifically to any missing airman. Individual remains of the other five have been buried elsewhere.
