WWII Airman Missing for Decades Will Be Buried With Full Honors

A US Army sentry walks his post in the snow at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Credit: Getty Images)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Dec 1, 2014 / 05:45 PM PST

Updated: Dec 1, 2014 / 05:45 PM PST

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A missing World War II airman from San Francisco whose remains were found more than a decade ago will finally be laid to rest Thursday.

Army Air Force Sgt. Charles A. Gardner’s remains will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory identified Gardner after matching his DNA to that of his niece and nephew, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Gardner went missing April 10, 1944, when he and 11 other B-24D Liberator crew members took off from New Guinea for a planned attack on an anti-aircraft site at Hansa Bay. On their way to the site, Gardner and his crew were shot down over Madang Province.

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