Brothers say WW2 soldier's grave found

BALTIMORE, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The brothers of a Baltimore man who was killed crossing the Rhine River in 1945 hope to bring his body home to lie beside their parents.

Kenneth and Calvin Bayne, 81-year-old twins, believe they have identified the grave in a U.S. military cemetery in St. Avold in northeastern France where Robert Bayne, known to his brothers as Buddy, was buried as an unknown soldier, the Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday. The body was one of three discovered where the soldiers had been quickly buried by the Germans, and the other two were identified as the other men killed on the mission.

The Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office has a huge backlog, and the brothers have been told a decision on opening the French grave could be a year away.

"There is no big mystery here," Ken Bayne said. "Four men got in that boat to cross the Rhine. Halfway across, the Germans opened fire. Three were killed and only one came back alive, and we got to talk to him years ago."