Georgia airman who went missing in action during WWII recovered
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Thursday that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Milton L. Hymes, Jr., 22, of Savannah, was accounted for Nov. 21, 2024.
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Hymes, the navigator onboard a B-24J 'Liberator' bomber, died on June 20, 1944, when his plane crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark.
The aircraft, with 10 crew members, had departed Bungay, England, on a bombing mission to Politz, Germany. The plane collided with another B-24 in the same formation.
The aircraft exploded when it hit the water, and two crew members were blown clear.
The pilot and co-pilot survived and were rescued by Danish fishermen, taken into captivity by the Germans and eventually returned to Allied control.
German records indicate they recovered the body of one crew member but do not report how they disposed of the body.
Evidence suggested that Hymes and the six other crew members were killed in the crash.
Hymes was declared dead by the U.S. War Department on June 21, 1945.
The American Graves Registration Command tried to find Hymes and the rest of the crew, even searching remains that washed up on the coast.
These efforts were ultimately fruitless, and Hymes was declared non-recoverable on May 12, 1950.
In 2019, divers alerted the Royal Danish Navy to a WWII-era aircraft wreck in the general area where Hymes' aircraft crashed. A .50 caliber machine gun with a damaged serial number pointed to the craft being the lost bomber.
The Royal Danish Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal cleared the site of unexploded ordnance in August 2021.
This allowed Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency partner the University of Delaware and the Royal Danish Navy to survey the underwater site. The survey found human remains and enough evidence to recommend the site for further study.
Additional excavation and recovery operations in 2022-2024 found more evidence, including remains and the ID tags of two crew members.
Organizations that helped in the search and record efforts include Trident Archäologie, Wessex Archaeology, volunteers from Project Recover, stakeholders from the Royal Danish Navy and the Langelands Museum.
To identify Hymes' remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material evidence.
Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA analysis.
Hymes' name is recorded on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hymes will be buried in Thunderbolt, Georgia, on a date yet to be determined.
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