MARIANNA, Fla. – Authorities have identified the remains of a Florida Panhandle man declared missing in action in World War II.
The Department of Defense says Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Samuel Lunday of Marianna will be buried Friday at Arlington National Cemetery.
Officials say Lunday and four other U.S. servicemen lost radio contact as their aircraft flew from China to India in April 1943. As the U.S. fought Japan, Army Air Forces cargo planes based in India ferried supplies over the Himalayas to American bases in China.
Officials say an American discovered the wreckage of Lunday's plane in 2003 while hiking near Chabua, India. Lunday's remains were identified when DNA evidence matched samples from Lunday's nephews.
According to the Defense Department, more than 73,000 Americans remain unaccounted-for from World War II.
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