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FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Donal C. Aiken, a Soldier killed during World War II, will be interred Sept. 30 at National Nashville Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee. Williamson Memorial Funeral Home, Franklin, Tennessee, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.
A native of Everett, Washington, Aiken was assigned to the 678th Bombardment Squadron, 444th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), 58th Bombardment Wing, Twentieth Bomber Command. He was serving aboard a B-29 Superfortress when it crashed June 26, 1944, into a rice paddy in the village of Sapekhati, India, after a bombing raid on Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata, Kyushu Island, Japan. All 11 crewmembers were killed. Aiken was 22 years old.
Two days later, the 342nd Service Squadron, 329th Service Group recovered and identified the remains of seven crewmembers, which were interred at in United States Military Cemetery in Panitola, Assam, India. Aiken was declared non-recoverable Jan. 2, 1948, after the American Graves Registration Command was unable to recover remains associated with him.
Decades later, life support equipment, wreckage associated with the B29 aircraft and possible osseous remains and material evidence recovered from the crash site between 2014 and 2019, were sent to a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Laboratory for analysis.
Aiken was accounted for by the DPAA May 5, 2023, after his remains were identified using material evidence and mitochondrial DNA analysis.
For additional information about Sgt. Aiken, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3469683/airman-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-aiken-d/
To learn more about the Department of Defense’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call 703-699-1420/1169.
Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at 800-892-2490 and/or Williamson Memorial Funeral Home, 615-794-2289.
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| Date Taken: | 09.21.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2023 09:07 |
| Story ID: | 453943 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 114 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Remains of World War II Soldier to be buried in Madison, Tennessee, by Fonda Bock, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
