U.S. airman missing in WWII ID'd

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WASHINGTON, April 20 (UPI) -- The remains of a U.S. airman missing since his plane went down over the Philippines during World War II have been identified, the military said Wednesday.

The Defense Department's POW/Missing Personnel Office said the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. James G. Maynard of Ellenwood, Ga., have been returned to his family, and he will be buried with full military honors Friday at Arlington National Cemetery.

Maynard was part of a six-member crew aboard a C-47A cargo plane that left Tanauan Airfield on Leyte in the Philippines on March 12, 1945, on a mission to resupply guerrilla troops. The plane took off and was never heard from again.

U.S. officials were notified by a Philippine national police officer in 1989 that possible World War II-era plane wreckage had been found, but unrest in the region hampered efforts to search and recover the remains.

There are more than 72,000 Americans still listed as unaccounted-for from the war.