(Radio Iowa) — The military has identified the remains of an Iowan who was reported missing in action during World War Two.
Nineteen-year-old Melvin Huff of Iowa Falls was a corporal in the U-S Army Air Force and was deployed to what is now New Guinea. He was the machine gunner in a bomber attacking Japanese positions that made two successful runs on January 20th, 1945, but the plane did not return to the air base and search missions could not find it. Sixty-six years later, an Australian military officer and a local guide reported seeing an aircraft crash site in a swamp.
In late 2022, an underwater team from the U-S military recovered possible human remains from the site that have recently been confirmed to be Huff’s. A news release from the U-S military indicates Huff will be buried in Iowa Falls, but no date has been set for the service.
