The U.S. Government has asked British archaeologists for help in locating the remains of a U.S. pilot whose plane crashed in the dense woodlands of England in 1944.
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Eighty years after the Allies fought to defeat Hitler’s Nazi army, there is still a desire to bring closure and honor to those fallen in battle.
The crash site is near East Anglia, a rural area that served as a headquarters for the Allies in the 1940s. The unnamed pilot’s plane went down after the controls on the B-17 he was flying failed, and it crashed carrying 12,000 pounds of explosives. Cotswold Archaeology will spend six weeks excavating the site.
“This excavation will not be easy — the crash crater is waterlogged and filled with 80 years’ worth of sediment, the trees and undergrowth are thick, and all soil must be meticulously sieved to hopefully recover plane ID numbers, personal effects, and any human remains,” the company said in a social media post showing images of the site.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency claims that 72,000 servicemen are still unaccounted for from WWII. The remains of 1,500 have been found and returned to their families. On their website, they have created a database of missing personnel. Families are able to submit pictures of their loved ones. The picture of each hero is a somber reminder of the cost paid for the values we hold dear today.
While the search for the pilot in East Anglia continues, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is also searching in France for three airmen whose aircraft was shot down by Germans on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
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“It’s a real honor being here on this recovery mission. It’s a humbling experience, and I’m happy to help bring the full accounting of the missing to their families,” said Air Force Master Sgt. Raul Castillo, the team’s lead support investigator on the mission in France.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency searches for missing servicemen from every conflict. In regard to WWII, they have assisted in the recovery of a large number of veterans.
Since the renewal of U.S. POW/MIA recovery efforts in the 1970s, the remains of nearly 1,000 Americans killed in World War II have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors. This number is in addition to the roughly 280,000 Americans whose remains were identified in a massive effort immediately after the war.
There are still 72,078 missing heroes. It is important to our nation’s legacy that these heroes be brought home and honored. For the families, it may provide closure, although many living relatives of the heroes may have already passed. Still, even 80 years later, each family should have the privilege of having their veteran honored.