WWII Pilot's Remains Identified More Than 8 Decades After Plane Disappeared During Spy Mission

WWII Pilot's Remains Identified More Than 8 Decades After Plane Disappeared During Spy Mission: U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney has been identified more than 80 years after his Lightning aircraft failed to return from a reconnaissance mission over Southeast Asia. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said McKinney, a 21-year-old from Rhode Island, went missing after his F5E-2-LO departed Yunnanyi, China, on Nov. 5, 1944, heading back from targets in Thailand and Burma. His remains were accounted for on May 15. Teams later traced a crash to Ban Mae Kua in Lampang Province, Thailand, after a 2018 discovery and 2022 forensic recovery. The DPAA noted there was no contact after the aircraft left base. McKinney is memorialized at Manila American Cemetery and will be laid to rest with full military honors.