WASHINGTON, DC — The remains of an Iowa native killed in the fighting in the European theater during World War II have finally been identified. The remains of Muscatine-native Theodore Willhite were accounted for in September of last year, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Tuesday.

Willhite, then-26, was assigned to the 724th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations in March 1944.

That same month Willhite was killed when the B-24 “Liberator” he was piloting was hit by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Toulon, France. According to the agency, witnesses at the time saw Willhite’s plane spin out of control at about 3,000 feet in the air, break apart, and crash into the sea. The 11 crew members, including Willhite, died in the crash and were not identified.

The American Graves Registration Command, Army Quartermaster Corps. was tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. After the war the organization disinterred seven sets of remains from the Lagoubran Cemetery in France. The organization was unable to identify the remains at the time and the remains were interred at the Rhône American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.

In 2019 DPAA and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel exhumed the sets of remains again for analysis and identification. Through anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA analysis, one set of the remains was identified as Willhite.

Willhite was accounted for in September 2023, but his family was only recently told about his identification, the DPAA said.

A rosette will be placed next to his name on the Walls of the Missing at Rhône American Cemetery to indicate he has been accounted for. Willhite will be buried at a place and time determined by his family.

WASHINGTON, DC — The remains of an Iowa native killed in the fighting in the European theater during World War II have finally been identified. The remains of Muscatine-native Theodore Willhite were accounted for in September of last year, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Tuesday.

Willhite, then-26, was assigned to the 724th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations in March 1944.

That same month Willhite was killed when the B-24 “Liberator” he was piloting was hit by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Toulon, France. According to the agency, witnesses at the time saw Willhite’s plane spin out of control at about 3,000 feet in the air, break apart, and crash into the sea. The 11 crew members, including Willhite, died in the crash and were not identified.

The American Graves Registration Command, Army Quartermaster Corps. was tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. After the war the organization disinterred seven sets of remains from the Lagoubran Cemetery in France. The organization was unable to identify the remains at the time and the remains were interred at the Rhône American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.

In 2019 DPAA and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel exhumed the sets of remains again for analysis and identification. Through anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA analysis, one set of the remains was identified as Willhite.

Willhite was accounted for in September 2023, but his family was only recently told about his identification, the DPAA said.

A rosette will be placed next to his name on the Walls of the Missing at Rhône American Cemetery to indicate he has been accounted for. Willhite will be buried at a place and time determined by his family.