After 71 years, eight World War II Airmen laid to rest in ANC

Photo By Damien Salas | Members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) Caisson Platoon lead a procession through Arlington National Cemetery during a full military honors ceremony March 18 for eight Airmen who fought in World War II. The crew was shot down April 10, 1944, while on a mission to attack an anti-aircraft site at Hansa Bay on the second largest Pacific island, New Guinea. (Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall PAO photo by Damien Salas)  

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, VA, UNITED STATES

03.18.2015

Story by Damien Salas 

Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall

ARLINGTON, Va. - The remains of eight missing Airmen were laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery March 18, just under 71 years after their deaths during their service in World War II. Responsible for finding the missing men was the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency, according to a Feb. 24 Department of Defense press release.

“These men represent our country’s greatest generation,” said U.S. Army Chaplin (Maj.) John Scott in his remarks during the ceremony. “And we in uniform are honored to remember their service with you here today.”

Aboard a 12 B-24D Liberator— an aircraft used for heavy bombing— the crew departed from Nazdab Air Field in New Guinea April 10, 1944. On the way to attack an anti-aircraft site at Hansa Bay, Japanese anti-aircraft fire shot down the bomber over the second largest Pacific island’s Madang Province, according to the report.

Of the men aboard the plane, four parachuted, but were reported to have died in captivity, three were found following World War II during an investigation conducted by the Army Graves Registration Service and the remaining crew members were found in 2001, after a U.S.-led team located the wreckage of a B-24D that bore the tail number of the crew’s aircraft.

Because no recovered remains were associated with Poulsen and Copeland, the ceremony paid special tribute to their legacies.

“In particular, we honor the service of 1st Lt. Bryant Poulsen and Staff Sgt. John Copeland as our country fulfills her promise to never leave a fallen comrade,” said Scott. “For our comrades in arms, 1st Lt. Poulsen and Staff Sgt. Copeland, our nation bestows military honors. In life they honored the flag, now the flag will honor them.”

Since January, the DPAA has recovered the remains of 20 service members who went missing from conflicts ranging from 1940 through 1970, according to the department’s “recently accounted for” database. Updated March 11, the DPPA numbers show that 73,515 Americans remain missing from WWII.

Buried were Army-Air Corps 1st Lt. William D. Bernier of Augusta, Mont.; 1st Lt. Bryant E. Poulsen of Salt Lake City, Utah; 1st Lt. Herbert V. Young Jr. of Clarkdale, Ariz.; Tech Sgt. Charles L. Johnston of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Tech Sgt. Hugh F. Moore of Elkton, Md.; Staff Sgt. John E. Copeland of Dearing, Kan.; Staff Sgt. Charles J. Jones of Athens, Ga.; and Staff Sgt. Charles A. Gardner of San Francisco, Calif.

• Date Taken: 03.18.2015
• Date Posted: 03.26.2015 12:33
• Story ID: 158180
• Location: ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, VA, US
• Hometown: ATHENS, GA, US
• Hometown: AUGUSTA, MO, US
• Hometown: CLARKDALE, AZ, US
• Hometown: DEARING, KS, US
• Hometown: ELKTON, MD, US
• Hometown: PITTSBURGH, PA, US
• Hometown: SALT LAKE CITY, UT, US
• Hometown: SAN FRANCISCO, CA, US