HOUSTON (AP) – The remains of a military pilot from Texas missing since his plane was shot down in France during World War II have been recovered and identified.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on Monday announced the remains are 22-year-old Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Ottaway B. Cornwell of Houston. Cornwell was accounted for on July 25.
Cornwell in January 1944 was a member of the 4th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group, Twelfth (XII) Air Force. He was piloting a Supermarine Spitfire when the aircraft was shot down over Pierrefeu-du-Var (pee-AIR’-fuh-doo-VAR’), France, during a battle with a German plane.
Remains of Houston Aviator in WWII Recovered, Identified https://t.co/BR9vqX7o5b
— Military.com (@Militarydotcom) December 4, 2018
A French researcher in October 2016 contacted U.S. authorities about a possible aircraft crash site near his home in that village. Cornwell’s remains were positively identified this year using DNA and dental analysis.
