WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A U.S. soldier killed in the Pacific during World War II will be buried in Florida after his remains were identified by a DNA match with a descendant.
The Palm Beach Post reports that Richard “Tiny” Sowell will be buried Friday at Woodlawn Cemetery in a family plot with full military honors.
Sowell was killed by a Japanese mortar in July 1944 while serving as a forward spotter on the island of Saipan. He was 21.
His unidentified remains had been found in 1949 and buried in Hawaii. Earlier this year, DNA retrieved from the remains was compared to a sample submitted by a nephew born 14 years after Sowell’s death. It was an exact match.