An airman whose plane was shot down during World War II is finally coming home.

Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John Canty, who served with the 555th Bombardment Squadron, 386th Bombardment Group, 9th Bomber Command, was accounted for on Jan. 22, the Air Force announced.

Canty was one of eight crewmembers aboard a B-26 Maurader on a nighttime bombing mission on June 22, 1944.

They left from Easton Lodge-Essex, England, toward targets near Caen, France, and were shot down between the French villages of Baron-sur-Odon and Gavrus. The villages were in German-held territory at the time, so U.S. forces were unable to make a detailed search for the crew, and all eight members were marked as killed.

“These service members have been missing for up to 75 years, in some cases,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kristen Duus, a spokeswoman for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, according to the Air Force.

“We have spouses, children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, who continue to hold out hope that their service member will be identified and can be returned with the full military honors they all deserve.”

Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John H. Canty, a gunner and engineer, was killed 16 days after D-Day when his B-26 Marauder was shot down just east of Caen, France. His body has been recovered by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. (Courtsey photo)

The DPAA is a Department of Defense agency with the mission of recovering personnel listed as prisoners of war or missing in action from all past wars and conflicts in countries around the world. It uses teams of anthropologists, augmentees, medics, analysts, and photographers to properly conduct excavations of crash and burial sites.

Canty, from Winsted, Connecticut, is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in France. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate that he has been accounted for.

Interment services are pending and more details will be released seven to 10 days prior to the funeral service, according to the DPAA website.

Share:
In Other News
Load More