LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The remains of a Kentucky soldier killed during World War II are finally back home more than 80 years after he died in combat.
U.S. Army Pvt. Mike Raymond McDowell, of Kentucky, was killed in action during the Battle of Myitkyina in Burma on July 29, 1944. He was 19 years old.
His remains were never identified after the battle, and the U.S. Army declared him non-recoverable in 1952.
More than 70 years later, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reopened the case and used modern forensic testing to identify McDowell's remains. The agency officially accounted for him in January of this year.
McDowell's remains arrived in Louisville Friday before being escorted to Chism Family Funeral Home in Vine Grove.
McDowell will be buried Tuesday at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central in Radcliff with military honors.
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