ATLANTA — A U.S. airman from Valdosta, Georgia, has been accounted for decades after serving in World War II.
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. William O. Wood was accounted for back in May of this year, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (or DPAA).
Wood was serving as a gunner on an aircraft that crashed back in 1943, according to DPAA. The plane was a part of Operation TIDAL WAVE; a large-scale bombing mission targeting oil fields and refineries in Romania during the war.
Since his remains were not identified after the war, he was buried among others known as "Unknowns" in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan in Prahova, Romania.
In years since the American Graves Registration Command (or AGRC) would dig up all American remains from the cemetery for identification. The 80 they were unable to identify were then permanently burred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery - which are both in Belgium, according to DPAA.
Then in 2017, the DPAA began to dig out unknown bodies that were believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen involved in Operation TIDAL WAVE. Those remains were then sent to a laboratory in Nebraska for examination and identification.
The DPAA said their scientists were able to identify Wood through anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence. They also said scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used various forms of DNA analysis.
They add that Wood’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from the war. A rosette will be placed next to Wood's name to indicate he has now been accounted for.
He is expected to be buried in Tallahassee, Florida, on Aug. 1, 2022.
