KENT, Wash. — After 80 years, the remains of a World War II soldier will be interred Aug. 7 at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent.
The remains of U.S. Army Air Corps Maj. Theodore E. Wilhite will be interred at Tahoma National Cemetery, 80 years after his plane crashed over France, the U.S. Army announced Monday.
According to the Defense Department’s POW/MIA Agency, on March 11, 1944, B-24 Liberator pilot Maj. Wilhite took off from Italy on a bombing mission to the French port of Touren.
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Witnesses reported seeing the plane being hit after dropping its cargo, followed by an explosion on board and splitting it in two, causing it to fall into the water.
Witnesses reported not seeing a parachute before the crash, and it is believed that Major Wilhite and ten of his men died that day.
[In1945theywereburiedunidentifiedintheRhôneAmericanMilitaryCemeteryinFrancebutaUSmilitaryregistrationteamexhumed25gravesbelievedtobelongtoAlliedsoldiersanddiscoveredtheremainsofthesevenpassengersonboardtheplane[1945年、フランスのローヌ米軍墓地に身元不明のまま埋葬されていたが、米軍登録班が連合軍兵士のものと思われる墓25基を掘り起こし、同機に乗っていた7人の遺体を発見した。
The other four bodies could not be identified, but in June 2019, the Department of Defense and the United States War Memorials Commission exhumed the remaining four unidentified bodies and laboratory analysis determined that one of the four was that of Major Wilhite.
Major Wilhite was positively identified on July 13, 2023 and considered confirmed on September 19, 2023.
Through hard work, the Army was able to identify and verify next of kin from DNA samples and inform them of benefits, including burial with military honors.
A native of Muscatine, Iowa, Wilhite enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and was assigned to the 451st Bombardment Squadron.
Gaffney Funeral Home of Tacoma will conduct graveside rites prior to burial.
