BOULDER CITY, Nev. –
The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Robert D. McKee, a Soldier killed during World War II, will be interred noon Friday at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery here during a repatriation funeral ceremony.
McKee's delayed funeral highlights the lack of access in East Germany following the fall of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War and the persistence of the U.S. Army’s repatriation efforts with use of DNA evidence during the past two decades.
A native of Portland, Oregon, McKee was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater. He was killed in action April 8, 1944, at age 27, when the B-24H “Liberator” he co-piloted was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission in flight to Brunswick, Germany.
“It’s important to honor those who served and recognize the families of our World War II veterans,” said Maj. Willard Hubler, a Nevada Army National Guard officer who served as the casualty assistance officer, or CAO, for the services. A CAO provides support to families of service members who are missing, deceased, or seriously ill or injured, with benefits, funeral arrangements and other needs.
The Nevada Army National Guard will also perform a Lakota UH-72 flyover alongside World War II era aircraft during the funeral service Friday, including a B-24 Bomber, and Nevada Army Guard Capt. Emmanuel Barba will serve as the chaplain for the funeral, Hubler said.
“The goal is to show a combination of modern aircraft and aircraft connected to World War II,” Hubler said.
On April 8, 1944, McKee was aboard the B-24H Liberator, ‘Little Joe,’ when the plane was shot down, reportedly near Salzwedel, Germany, according to McKee’s obituary published by the Palm Boulder Highway Mortuary and Cemetery.
“Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with 'Little Joe' did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel,”
McKee's obituary read. “The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all ten crewmembers, including McKee, were unaccounted for following the war.”
After World War II and the fall of the Iron Curtain, Salzwedel and nearby Wistedt, Germany fell under Soviet Union control during the Cold War. For nearly four decades, this played a role in U.S. access to the region in search of remains. In 2015, an independent research organization contacted the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency about a crash site near Wistedt, believed to be associated with the crash. DPAA personnel traveled to the region and interviewed local witnesses, one of whom reported the loss of an aircraft in a nearby farm field. A site investigation in 2021 yielded the recovery of media associated with the tail gunner of “Little Joe
,” correlating the crash site, according to DPAA.
In 2023, DPAA personnel excavated the site, finding skeletal remains, including teeth along with left/right clavicle and vertebrae.On June 20, 2024, DPAA concluded the remains belonged to McKee.
“The right radius, 12th thoracic vertebra, left clavicle, and right femur were tested for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA),” a DPAA memo stated. “The mtDNA sequence information obtained from the remains is consistent with the mtDNA sequence information obtained from (McKee's) maternal cousin.”
The
Past Conflict Repatriations Branch, under the Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky, seeks to locate family members of missing Soldiers from WWII, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
The process begins with locating the family member most closely related to the missing Soldier, known as the primary next of kin, followed by a request for family reference samples or DNA, which are used as a main source in identifying remains. McKee died when he was 27 and had no children.
Once a Soldier has been identified by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, the PCRB notifies and briefs the family about the results of historical, forensic and DNA reports, benefits and the mortuary process including burial with full military honors.
While McKee was born and raised in Oregon, he has descendants living in Las Vegas, including his cousin, and Arizona. That played a role in choosing the Boulder City Veterans Cemetery, Hubler said.
For additional information about McKee
click here.
Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490, Palm Cheyenne Mortuary, 702-464-8480 or Capt. Emerson Marcus, Nevada National Guard Public Affairs Officer, 775-287-5592.