Remains of WWII Airman from Delaware Discovered Last Edited: Friday, 25 Apr 2008, 8:42 PM EDT Created: Friday, 25 Apr 2008, 8:42 PM EDT
Photo courtesy: U.S. Department of Defense
The remains of a WWII veteran from Delaware missing for more than 50 years have been identified, the Department of Defense said Friday.
Captain Robert Coleman was among eleven servicemen whose remains were found in 2000 when three Papua New Guinean hunters discovered airplane wreckage in a forest near Iwaia village. The crash site was lost, but rediscovered in 2004, when investigators collected dental remains of the men. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) used the dental remains and DNA evidence to confirm all their identities this month.
They are Capt. Robert L. Coleman, of Wilmington, Del.; 1st Lt. George E. Wallinder, of San Antonio, Texas; 2nd Lt. Kenneth L. Cassidy, of Worcester, Mass.; 2nd Lt. Irving Schechner, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; 2nd Lt. Ronald F. Ward, of Cambridge, Mass.; Tech. Sgt. William L. Fraser, of Maplewood, Mo.; Tech. Sgt. Paul Miecias, of Piscataway, N.J.; Tech. Sgt. Robert C. Morgan, of Flint, Mich.; Staff Sgt. Albert J. Caruso, of Kearny, N.J.; Staff Sgt. Robert E. Frank, of Plainfield, N.J.; and Pvt. Joseph Thompson, of Compton, Calif; all U.S. Army Air Forces.
The airmen disappeared in December 1943 in a B-24D Liberator from Dobodura, New Guinea. They were on an armed-reconnaissance mission over New Hanover Island in the Bismarck Sea. The crew reported dropping their bombs on target, but in spite of several radio contacts with their base, they never returned to Dobodura.
The men will be buried with full military honors.
MyFox Philadelphia | Remains of WWII Airman from Delaware Discovered