The remains of a World War II pilot from New York have been identified and will be buried in his upstate hometown more than 70 years after he died in a crash in the southwest Pacific.
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Thursday that the remains of 2nd Lt. Edward F. Barker of Herkimer have been identified from circumstantial evidence and DNA provided by his niece and nephew.
Barker was a 21-year-old Army Air Forces pilot when he failed to return from a training mission on Sept. 30, 1944, in Papua New Guinea.
In 1962, a U.S. military team discovered the wreckage of Barker’s P-4 Thunderbolt in a mountainous region. His remains weren’t recovered until 2012.
Barker will be buried Aug. in Calvary Cemetery in Herkimer, 60 miles east of Syracuse.
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