WWll airman’s remains identified, to be buried at Ft. Leavenworth

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Second Lieutenant John E. McLauchlen Jr. of Detroit was killed in action in 1943 during the Second World War. The Army airman was a member of the 436th Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group. But those details only recently came to light, and after 80 years of mystery, his remains were identified and accounted for.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency ( DPAA ) reports that in 1943 McLauchlen was on a bombing mission from Panagarh, India to the Insein Railroad Yard north of Rangoon, Burma when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Witnesses have said they saw McLauchlen’s left wing burst into flames before the B-24J Liberator bomber went into a steep dive beneath the clouds.

Three enemy aircraft were seen following the plane, and contact was never again made with McLauchlen. The remains of the crew were not recovered or identified following World War ll, they were all declared missing in action.

In 1947, however, the American Grave Registration Services ( AGRS ) found remains near Yodayadet, Burma. They believed these remains were individuals involved in a B-24J Liberator crash. Local witnesses claimed that there were no survivors of the crash and that Japanese forces had instructed them to bury the remains in two large graves.

AGRS recovered the remains, but they could not be scientifically identified at the time. The remains were designated as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ( NMCP ) in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Fast forward 70-plus years the DPAA received a family disinterment request for one of the remains in early 2019. This request was based on past attempts to identify remains of other unresolved losses from southern Burma.

The Department of Defense approved the request and the DPAA collected the remains from NMCP in October of 2020. The remains were then brought to the DPAA lab for analysis.

DPAA scientists used anthropological analysis, circumstantial evidence and material evidence. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used mitochondrial DNA analysis. McLauchlen was accounted for on January 25, 2024.

After 81 years, McLauchlen has made it back to the States. The Kansas City Fire Department and the ARFF Division provided support and a water salute to the WWll airman’s plane as it arrived and taxied to the gate on Tuesday.

Second Lt. McLauchlen will be buried this summer at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas. His name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial , an American Battle Monuments Commission in the Philippines. A rosette will be placed next to his name to show he has been identified and accounted for.

For family and funeral information, call the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

For additional information regarding the identification of American soldiers who went missing while serving their country, visit this link .

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