Former Lt. Jose A. Holguin, unfortunately, did not live to see his crew's identification and now internment together. He died of a heart attack in 1994 at age 73. It is a wonder that he survived the crash and imprisonment.
In 2001, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command group excavated the crash site and found the remains of the four missing crew members: Sarsfield, Trimingham, Christopherson and Gionet. Using DNA and dental records, the remains were identified.
The nine who died will be buried today, September 21st, at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
At the end of World War II, there were 79,000 US service personnel unaccounted for. Today, that number is down to 73,000. Still a lot, but I am happy to see effort is still being made to locate and identify their remains.
Heroes, All. --DaCoot
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