A WWII veteran aviator’s remains found in Germany in a tree have been returned to the U.S. 72 years after his airplane crashed in the woods.
The bones were found last year embedded in the roots of a tree that grew around them after the crash, and DNA tests proved it was Lt. William Gray, the New York Post reported. The remains were returned to his family last week in Washington state, where he was buried Friday in Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Washington, next to his best friend, First Lt. Jim Louvier.
Louvier came back from the war without his friend and later married Gray’s sister. The two men had promised to take care of each other’s families if one of them didn’t make it back from the war, and Louvier kept that promise.
“I know he loved her dearly and committed to her for 64 years before he died,” his son, Jan Bradshaw said, Q13 Fox reported.
Louvier died in 2010 at age 89, but his ashes had never been buried, the news station reported. Now, the men had a military burial with honors and now rest side by side.
“I think they are having a cold drink up there smacking their glass together and saying we are finally back together,” Doug Louvier told Q13.
The remains were found during another recovery mission after two people who saw the plane clip a tree and crash in Lindau told investigators where to look.
“The thinky he took some enemy fire,” Bradshaw said of the 1945 crash, Q13 Fox reported.