Missing World War II Airmen Identified

The Department of Defense announced April 25 that it has identified the remains of 11 Army Air Forces personnel who went missing in December 1943 when their B-24D Liberator bomber disappeared during an armed reconnaissance mission over New Hanover Island in the Bismarck Sea in the Pacific theater of World War II. Capt. Robert L. Coleman, of Wilmington, Del., piloted the aircraft. (Click here for complete crew list.) The B-24 departed Dobodura, New Guinea, but never returned to base; searches failed to locate them. In 2000, locals discovered aircraft near Iwaia village on Papua, New Guinea. Between 2004 and 2007, the site was excavated twice and remains recovered that were later identified. The remains of each crew member will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors, according to the DOD POW/Missing Personnel Office.