SOUTHWEST ASIA — An Airman who served with 555th Bombardment Squadron, 386th Bombardment Group, 9th Bomber Command, during World War II was accounted for Jan. 22, 2018.
Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John H. Canty was one of eight crewmembers aboard a B-26 Maurader on a nighttime bombing mission from Easton Lodge-Essex, England, against targets near Caen, France. His B-26 was shot down between the villages of Baron-sur-Odon and Gavrus, France, on June 22, 1944.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, all eight crewmembers were killed in the incident. Because the location of the crash was in a German-held territory, U.S. forces were unable to make a detailed search for the crew at the time of their loss.
“These service members have been missing for up to 75 years, in some cases,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kristen Duus, DPAA public affairs noncommissioned officer in charge. “We have spouses, children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, who continue to hold out hope that their service member will be identified and can be returned with the full military honors they all deserve.”
DPAA is an agency within the Department of Defense whose mission is to recover missing personnel who are listed as POW or MIA, from all past wars and conflicts and from countries around the world.
“This mission is important because it is our obligation to fulfill our nation’s promise to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation,” Duus said.
DPAA relies on partnerships with agencies around the world and utilizes their laboratories for identification. In cases where the agency conducts excavations, they take teams to locations to excavate crash and burial sites. This involves anthropologists, augmentees, medics, analysts and photographers to ensure every aspect of the excavation is properly conducted and documented. If remains are found, they are sent to the lab for DNA analysis, dental comparison and anthropological analysis.
“I have spoken with families after their loved ones have been identified and they have expressed an overwhelming sense of gratitude as well as comfort,” concluded Duus.
Canty’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Interment services are pending and more details will be released approximately 10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
For more information about DPAA, visit www.dpaa.mil, or find them on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call 703-699-1420.
