The remains of a local World War II veteran have finally been identified.
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Howard L. Dickson, 30, of Dayton, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 23, 2022, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
In the summer of 1943, Dickson was assigned to the 328th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force, according to the DPAA.
On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator bomber on which Dickson was a gunner and instructor was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
Dickson’s remains were not identified following the war.
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The DPAA says the remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
The American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification following the war.
“The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium,” the DPAA said.
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In 2017, the DPAA says it began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses.
To identify Dickson’s remains, DPAA scientists used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Dickson’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for, the DPAA said.
Dickson will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on a date yet to be determined.