Body of Middletown Air Force pilot killed in WWII returning home after being identified

MIDDLETOWN — The body of a Middletown Air Force pilot killed when his plane was shot down back in World War II is returning home after being identified.

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U.S. Army Forces 1st Lt. Dan W. Colson, 27, of Middletown, was officially accounted for back in September, according to the U.S. Department of Defense’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

Our news partner WCPO reports that the family was notified back in October.

Corson was assigned to the 401st Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force in December 1942. He co-piloted a B-17F “Flying Fortress” that was nicknamed Danellen.

It got hit by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German aircraft factory at Romilly-sur-Seine in France.

The plane was last seen spinning towards the ground and crashing near the French village of Bernieres-sur-Seine, defense officials said.

Only one airman was able to successfully parachute from the crashing plane, and eight members were still on board, including Corson.

The War Department issued a finding of death for 1st Lt. Corson on Dec. 20, 1943.

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Scientists from DPAAA used anthropological analysis to identify Corson’s remains. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

His name is recorded on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from World War II.

A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate that Corson has been accounted for.

He will be buried in Middletown. No date has been set yet.

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