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Sailor missing from World War II identified and buried with full military honors

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WILLMAR, Minnesota (WTKR) – The remains of a U.S. Navy Sailor, unaccounted for since World War II, have been identified.

Navy Motor Machinist’s Mate 1st Class John E. Anderson was killed on D-Day during World War II. His remains were finally identified decades later and he was buried with full military honors on Saturday, May 28, 2016 in his hometown of Willmar, Minnesota.

Navy Motor Machinist’s Mate 1st Class John E. Anderson was killed on D-Day during World War II. His remains were finally identified decades later and he was buried with full military honors on Saturday, May 28, 2016 in his hometown of Willmar, Minnesota.

Navy Motor Machinist’s Mate 1st Class John E. Anderson of Willmar, Minnesota was buried Saturday, May 28, 2016 in his hometown with full military honors.

On June 6, 1944, D-Day, Anderson was in Landing Craft Tank (LCT), Mark 5, Hull Number 30, which landed on Omaha Beach, France during the invasion of Normandy.

As men and equipment left the tank, Anderson went to the engine room to check the sand traps. He was killed when the tank was destroyed by either enemy fire or an enemy mine.

Nearly a month later, on July 1, 1944, a set of remains were recovered from the boiler room of the LCT. They were interred by the Army at the temporary American cemetery near Omaha Beach, St. Laurent-sur-Mer #1 and designated X-91 St. Laurent.

The remains were not identified as Anderson’s at the time because the Army Graves Registration didn’t have access to the Navy’s records. His remains were later re-interred at the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

In January 2015, following a request by Anderson’s family, a new historical investigation by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) showed a strong association between the unidentified remains and Anderson.

To identify them as Anderson’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence; mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched a sister and a nephew; as well as anthropological evidence.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war.