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Divers’ discovery of World War II plane crash leads to ID of US soldier, officials say
By Kate Linderman
A 22-year-old soldier was one of eight American airmen who vanished during a 1944 crash when their plane went “spinning down into the sea” during World War II, federal officials said.
His remains were never accounted for — until now.
A 2019 discovery by Danish divers found the wreck in the depth of the Baltic Sea, leading excavators to later pull evidence and human remains. This led to the identification of Lt. Robert T. McCollum of Cleveland, Ohio, decades after he went missing in action, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a Feb. 26 news release.
McCollum was onboard a B-24J “Liberator” bomber on June 20, 1944, when the plane crashed with another aircraft in the formation, the agency said. The pilot and co-pilot survived but were taken as prisoners of war while the eight others vanished, officials said.
A Finding of Death was issued on June 21, 1945, and his remains weren’t discovered for decades. Then, Danish divers made the discovery in 2019 that opened the door to identifying the missing soldiers, according to the news release. They alerted the Royal Danish Navy to a World War II-era aircraft found in the Baltic Sea near where McCollum’s plane had crashed 75 years prior.
Lt. McCollum has returned home.
Thanks to a Usual Suspect for the link.
Category: We Remember
Welcome home Lt McCollum. Rest well.
Good news. Good video. RIP.
Welcome Home, Good Sir. Our apologies that it took so long. Account for them all. Every Fallen Service Member deserves, at the very least, A Marked Resting Place.
Welcome home, LT.
Rest well.
Glad he is home with his family.
Here is the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency page and press release for 2LT Robert T. McCollum.
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BT1tEAG
https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4078502/airman-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-mccollum-r/
Welcome Home Lt. Robert T. McCollum.
They found an almost complete skeleton…
That alone is something of a miracle, considering that bones will leach out the calcium in sea water and break down. That’s why no skeletal remains could be found around the Titanic.
Reading “Masters of the air” right now. Superb book and very enlightening. The 8th Air Force suffered more KIAs ( 26,000) than the entire USMC in the war. When the Bombers went down the often took the entire crew with them.