Remains of Lake City airman identified

Associated Press This photo taken in Boston in the early 1940s and provided by Bill Stuart shows his uncle Sgt. Hyman L. Stiglitz, who was shot down during World War II and whose remains were found with those of eight other U.S. servicemen in Germany. The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced Thursday that the remains of the nine, who had been missing in action, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors. One of the airman identified was from Lake City.

WASHINGTON — A World War II missing airman from Lake City was among the nine remains identified recently in Germany.

For years, Wayne Wells had thought his father's plane had been shot down over the North Sea during World War II.

So when he learned that the remains of 2nd Lt. Millard C. Wells Jr., of Paris, Ky., had been discovered in Germany along with eight other airmen, he got an unexpected accounting of the father he never knew.

Wells was only six weeks old when the crash happened. He only knew his dad from a few photographs and family stories.

“It's sort of a closure that I didn't know I was going to have,” said Wells, a 63-year-old civil engineer from Lexington, Ky. “I never figured there would ever be any body or any parts.”

Wells' father was among nine U.S. airmen who were identified Thursday. Their remains will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors, and many of the airmen will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The men were aboard a B-24J Liberator sent to bomb a German aircraft factory near Bernburg, Germany. The plane, part of the 492nd Bomber Group which departed North Pickenham, England, was last seen by U.S. air crew members in that area. Captured records showed that it crashed near Westeregeln, about 20 miles northwest of the target, the Defense Department said.

A group of German citizens learned of a potential crash site south of Westeregeln in 2001. Later that year and in early 2002 they uncovered human remains from what appeared to be two burial locations. The remains, including identification tags, were turned over to U.S. officials.

In 2003, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command excavated the crash site and found additional remains, identification tags and non-biological material evidence.

Relatives of the airmen said they knew for a few years that the remains had been discovered and were asked to provide DNA samples to military investigators. Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory identified the remains using dental records, mitochondrial DNA and other tools.

“It restores our faith in government procedures to find out they are actually pursuing these men that were lost and returning them and giving the survivors notice. It brings closure,” said Martin Casey, 83, of Vergennes, Vt., a friend of Staff Sgt. Robert L. Cotey, one of the nine.

Casey said a ring found with the remains is believed to be the high school ring of Casey's late sister-in-law, Ruth Yattaw, who dated Cotey before he went off to war.

In addition to Wells and Cotey, the airmen were identified as: