The US Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced 20 August 2014 that Army Air Force SSgts. Robert E. Howard of Moravia, Iowa, and David R. Kittredge of Oneida, Wisconsin, both missing from World War II, had been identified and their remains had been returned to their families for burial with full military honors. On 16 April 1945, three B-26 Marauder crews were flying in formation on a bombing raid to Wittenberg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, when Howard and Kittredge’s aircraft was hit by enemy fire. The B-26B descended into a dive and exploded upon impact. In July 2012, a US team excavated the site, recovering human remains, personal effects, and aircraft wreckage. Mitochondrial DNA and dental records were used to positively identify the remains.
