Remains of Massachusetts airman lost in WWII identified
The remains of a U.S. Army Air Forces officer who went missing after a bombing run over northern Italy in World War II are coming home.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says the remains of 2nd Lt. Richard M. Horwitz, of Brookline, will be buried Oct. 15 in Boston with full military honors.
The 22-year-old Horwitz was one of 11 crew members on a B24 Liberator last seen after the Feb. 28, 1945 attack on a railroad bridge.
It was determined in 1948 it had crashed in the Adriatic Sea.
The wreckage was located by an Italian citizen off the coast of Grado, Italy, in 2013, and remains were recovered in 2015.
Horwitz’s remains were identified through historical evidence, dental and bone analysis and by comparing DNA to a relative. AP
West Virginia honor guard for funeral of WWII flier
The West Virginia National Guard plans to provide an honor guard detail for the funeral Oct. 14 of a World War II aviator whose remains have been returned to Charleston, W.Va.
Second Lt. Clarence Dragoo, from Sandyville, was an Army Air Forces navigator on a B-24J Liberator.
He, along with 10 other crew members, died on Feb. 28, 1945, when their plane crashed heading to a rally point following a bombing run targeting a bridge in northern Italy.
His remains were found recently off the coast of Grado, Italy, in the Adriatic Sea.
According to Guard officials, Dragoo will be laid to rest Oct. 14 in Sandyville, W.Va. AP