Video in player above shows veteran touring a plane similar to the one flown by George Winger.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — The remains of a Columbus, Ohio airman killed during World War II have been identified after 80 years.
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. George W. Winger, 25, was unaccounted for following the war, according to a release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Winger served as a pilot during Operation TIDAL WAVE in Romania. On Aug. 1, 1943, his B-24 Liberator aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed.
Winger’s remains were buried alongside other unidentified airmen in the Hero Section of a Romanian civilian and military cemetery.
In 2017, the DPAA began exhuming unknowns thought to be airmen unaccounted for after the war. DPAA scientists used anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis to successfully identify Winger’s remains.
Winger will be placed in Arlington National Cemetery at a future date.
