CANAAN, Maine — A Maine airman killed in World War II is due to be buried in his hometown — nearly 79 years after his death.
U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Richard G. Salsbury, 19, of Canaan, Maine, was a gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber shot down while targeting oil refineries in Romania on Aug. 1, 1943.
Salsbury was identified last year through DNA, dental and anthropological analysis, and his family recently received a full briefing, officials said Friday.
Salsbury will be buried in his hometown at a later date.
He was among 80 fallen service members whose remains were moved from Bolovan Cemetery after the war to Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
Five years ago, the defense department began exhuming remains and identifying them.
Salsbury's name is among missing service members on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery in Italy. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
