The remains of a Piedmont, Ala., serviceman missing in action from World War II have been identified and will be returned to the family for burial with full military honors.

According to the Department of Defense:

A burial service for Pvt. Fred G. Fagan and six other Army MIAs will be held July 15 in Arlington National Cemetery.

Other identified included 1st Lt. Robert M. Anderson, Millen, Ga.; Capt. Joseph M. Olbinski, Chicago; 1st Lt. Joseph J. Auld, Floral Park, N.Y.; Tech. Sgt. Clarence E. Frantz, Tyrone, Penn.; Pfc. Richard M. Dawson, Haynesville, Va., and Pvt. Robert L. Crane, Sacramento, Calif.

On May 23, 1944, the men were aboard a C-47A Skytrain that departed Dinjan, India, on an airdrop mission to resupply Allied forces near Myitkyina, Burma. When the crew failed to return, air and ground searches found no evidence of the aircraft along the intended flight path.

In late 2002, a missionary provided U.S. officials a data plate from a C-47 crash site approximately 31 miles northwest of Myitkyina. In 2003, a Burmese citizen turned over human remains and identification tags for three of the crew members.

A Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command team excavated the crash site in 2003 and 2004, recovering additional remains and crew-related equipment?including an identification tag for Dawson.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA ? which matched that of some of the crewmembers’ families ? as well as dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site or call 703-699-1169.

Article Courtsey of Cherokee County Herald