The remains of a WWII pilot from Michigan are identified 8 decades after a fatal bombing mission

Military scientists have identified the remains of an Army Air Forces pilot from Michigan who died during a World War II bombing mission in Southeast Asia. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Monday the remains of 2nd Lt. John E. McLauchlen Jr. of Detroit were identified in January. McLauchlen was the 25-year-old pilot of a B-24J Liberator bomber during a December 1943 bombing mission. The mission targeted a railroad yard in Myanmar, then known as Burma. The plane vanished after being hit by anti-aircraft fire after reaching the target. Remains later found in present-day Myanmar were sent in 2020 to the DPAA and identified as McLauchlen's.