Remains of West Virginia airman who died in WWII identified

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The remains of a West Virginia airman and two other servicemen who died in Europe during World War II have been identified, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Thursday

The remains found in 2016 have been identified as belonging to Sgt. John Kalausich of Charleston.

Kalausich, 19, was one of two gunners aboard a twin-engine, A-26B Invader bomber on March 21, 1945, less than two months before the war in Europe would come to an end, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported . His 642nd Bombardment Squadron was ordered to strike a railroad yard in Dulmen, Germany, to disrupt German troop movements in preparation for the Allied crossing of the Rhine River.

As the squadron passed over Hulsten-Reken, Kalausich’s bomber was struck by anti-aircraft artillery and was seen veering out of formation and rolling onto its back.

American Graves Registration Command personnel searched for the site where the aircraft was believed to have crashed after the war, but no wreckage matched Kalausich’s bomber.

In 2011, German researcher Adolph Hagedon searched the Hulsten-Reken area for the wreckage of three A-26 bombers. No aircraft or remains were identified in that search.

But thanks to a chance encounter, the search resumed in earnest five years later, according to an account by History Flight Inc., a nongovernmental organization that partnered with the DPAA to begin a new search.

In the summer of 2016, German researcher Adolph Hagedon was playing cards in the Hulston-Reken area when one of the players mentioned seeing a twin-engine U.S. bomber crash in a field near his home at the age of 8, according to a History Flight account. The eyewitness led them to a pasture.

A ground-penetrating radar scan turned up several possible targets to investigate, and a History Flight archaeological team began a systematic survey and excavation of the site in November 2016. A quantity of bone and teeth fragments suitable for use in DNA analysis was found.

Artifacts unearthed at the site included Kalausich’s dog tags, a set of sterling silver pilot’s wings and a damaged fountain pen cap partially inscribed with the pilot’s name, according to a History Flight account of the excavation.

After years of analysis, all three members of the missing A-26B’s aircrew were positively identified through clues that turned up in the dig.

In addition to Kalausich, the remains of pilot 2nd Lt. Lynn Hadfield, 26, of Salt Lake City, and Sgt. Vernon L. Hamilton, 19, of Monongahela, Pennsylvania, the aircraft’s second gunner, have been returned to their hometowns for burial.

A memorial service and burial for Kalausich will take place Feb. 23 in Charleston, according to the DPAA.

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Information from: The Charleston Gazette-Mail, http://wvgazettemail.com.