An American pilot is being buried at Arlington National Cemetery more than 70 years after he crashed on a Pacific island during World War II.
Second Lt. Robert Keown (pronounced Cow-uhn) was flying a P-38 aircraft that went down in Papua New Guinea in 1944.
Relatives never knew what happened to him until November. That’s when genetic testing confirmed that remains found years ago on the island were his.
Keown will be buried Friday with full honors.
Nieces and nephews are the closest remaining relatives to attend the funeral of Keown, who grew up near Atlanta in Lawrenceville, Georgia, before moving to Scottsboro, Alabama.
His father died in 1937 and his mother in 1979. Keown’s two brothers also died while he was missing, the most recent in 2015.
(Associated Press, copyright 2018)
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