Deceased WWII Airman Identified After Almost 80 Years

The remains of a World War II aviator who was declared missing in October 1943 have been identified by an organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in Europe, Military.com reports.

Army Air Corps Staff Sgt. Michael Uhrin, 21 from Metuchen, New Jersey, was assigned during the war to the 369th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 40th Combat Wing, 8th Air Force. He served in Europe as a radio operator onboard a B-17F Flying Fortress that was shot down by enemy aircraft in Germany. His body was never recovered, but surviving crew members said that Uhrin died before impact.

Uhrin was declared missing after an investigation into the crash did not find any evidence of his remains, and in April 1955 he was declared nonrecoverable by the American Graves Registration Command.

In 2021, Uhrin's remains were disinterred from the Ardennes American Cemetery, where they had been buried, after the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or DPAA, determined that the remains were likely to be Uhrin's. DNA testing, as well as dental and anthropological analysis, were used to identify Uhrin's remains, which will be buried in his hometown.

Uhrin's nephew, 78-year-old Michael Joseph Uchrin of Arizona, said that his family never knew many details about the death of his uncle, telling Military.com that "they didn't talk about it much."

He said that his family had a meeting with a military representative about his uncle's death that lasted for multiple hours and confirmed that his uncle had died on October 14, 1943, a day known as "Black Thursday" after more than 60 bombers were shot down and 600 airmen killed, wounded, or lost.

"We learned more from that one conversation than we ever learned growing up," Uchrin said. "It was just unbelievable, the research they had done was amazing."

He added, "We never thought we could find his body. I thank them so much for their service."

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