1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney is shown in a photo provided by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. McKinney's remains were identified May 15, nearly 82 years after his plane vanished on a mission. Photo courtesy of the DPAA
July 2 (UPI) -- A young World War II pilot who disappeared during a flight in1944 has been accounted for, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Thursday.
The remains of 1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney, 21, of the U.S. Army Air Forces were identified May 15, nearly 82 years after his plane vanished on a mission, the agency said.
McKinney was a pilot with the 35th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, 14th Air Force, the announcement said. On Nov. 5, 1944, he left a U.S. base on a reconnaissance mission from Yunnanyi, China, over Burma and Thailand.
"Photo reconnaissance work by the 35th and the intelligence derived from it helped turn the tide of the war in China," an Air Force article on the squadron noted.
