1st Lt. Archibald Kelly of the U.S. Army Air Forces was buried with full military honors.
Kelly was the navigator on a B-24J Liberator participating in a July 22, 1944, bombing raid of oil fields at Ploesti in Nazi-controlled Romania. The bomber was struck by anti-aircraft fire while returning to its base in Italy and crashed in what is now Croatia, about 430 miles southwest of Ploesti.
Of the 10 crewmen on board, eight survived and bailed out of the aircraft before it crashed. The rear gunner died and his body was later recovered. A surviving crewman saw Kelly bail out before the crash, but said he struck a rocky cliff face when the wind caught his parachute. Kelly's body was not found at that time.
Specialists from the Missing Personnel Office in 2005 interviewed residents who had information about World War II aircraft losses in the Dubrovnik area. One witness recalled a crash in which a crewman landed on a pile of rocks after his parachute failed to open. Local residents buried the soldier, but searchers could not locate the gravesite. The witness contacted U.S. authorities last June and said he had continued the search and found the gravesite. A recovery team found human remains at the site in September, and Kelly was identified through dental records and other forensic methods.
***************************************************************************************
WWII flier's remains found 63 years later - Apr 14, 2007
The remains of 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly were found in Croatia, 63 years after he was killed while fighting in
World War II.
-The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON
The discovery of the remains of a World War II navigator shocked and relieved his brother and sister-in-law, but also brought sorrow to the family of 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly because his parents never knew their son's fate.
"The irony is that my brother had been on 45 missions and had five more to go and he would have been discharged," said Sam Kelly, 83, of Commerce Township. "Archie" Kelly's B-24 crashed south of Dubrovnik in Croatia near the Adriatic Sea on July 22, 1944. He bailed out, but his parachute became tangled and he smashed into a mountain.
The Department of Defense notified Sam Kelly and his wife, Katie, "sometime in February" that dental records matched the skeletal remains found in a shallow grave by a couple of Croatian children who were walking near the village of Cavtat.
Kelly had been listed as missing in action for 63 years.
The remains, first discovered in 2005, were a skeleton and a button from an American military uniform, said Capt. Robert Frazer of Lake Orion, who was among the military personnel to visit the Kelly family and tell them their brother's remains were identified.
"I don't quite feel complete," said Sam Kelly, who retired from General Motors Corp.
"But I'm 95 percent sure it's my brother. They checked the forensic info and then the dental remains and an independent dentist agreed it was my brother."
Archie Kelly, who was 23 when his plane crashed, was the first to parachute out of the damaged aircraft, Sam Kelly said he learned from survivors.
"According to the guy following him, it was very windy and my brother's parachute would not open right," said Kelly, who was two years younger than Archie.
"He was struggling to straighten the chute out when he smashed into a mountain," he added.
Of the 10 crew members, who were returning from bombing oil fields in Romania, eight survived, Kelly said.
"The survivors were captured by the Germans and released later on," he said.
Sam and Archie Kelly joined the military at the same time in 1942, Sam Kelly said.
"I would have felt more complete if they found my brother's dog tags. They found the dog tags of the second guy in the plane who didn't survive the crash. He was buried in a local (Croatian) cemetery and still has his dog tags," he said.
"Archie's parents were sad that they never learned what happened to their son," said Katie Kelly.
Jesse, the mother of the Kelly brothers, died in the mid-1980s. The brothers' father, James, died in the 1970s, said Sam Kelly, who served as a private in World War II.
"I have a picture of my brother's burial mount near Mount Snijeznica in Croatia," Kelly said.
Archie Kelly's remains are currently in a military facility in Hawaii and will be shipped to the United States just before the funeral service, Frazer said.
"We're relieved to know what happened," said Katie Kelly.
Telling family members a relative has died in the service is "the hardest thing I've ever had to do," said Frazer, a casualty assistance officer with 16 years military experience.
"My brother was a nice guy and got along with people," Sam Kelly said. "I just wish my parents could have known what happened."
A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. May 12 at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home in Walled Lake. Burial will follow at the Great Lakes National Cemetery with full military honors, said Tim Lynch Jr. of the funeral home.
----
View Cenotaph Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.
Kelly was the navigator on a B-24J Liberator participating in a July 22, 1944, bombing raid of oil fields at Ploesti in Nazi-controlled Romania. The bomber was struck by anti-aircraft fire while returning to its base in Italy and crashed in what is now Croatia, about 430 miles southwest of Ploesti.
Of the 10 crewmen on board, eight survived and bailed out of the aircraft before it crashed. The rear gunner died and his body was later recovered. A surviving crewman saw Kelly bail out before the crash, but said he struck a rocky cliff face when the wind caught his parachute. Kelly's body was not found at that time.
Specialists from the Missing Personnel Office in 2005 interviewed residents who had information about World War II aircraft losses in the Dubrovnik area. One witness recalled a crash in which a crewman landed on a pile of rocks after his parachute failed to open. Local residents buried the soldier, but searchers could not locate the gravesite. The witness contacted U.S. authorities last June and said he had continued the search and found the gravesite. A recovery team found human remains at the site in September, and Kelly was identified through dental records and other forensic methods.
***************************************************************************************
WWII flier's remains found 63 years later - Apr 14, 2007
The remains of 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly were found in Croatia, 63 years after he was killed while fighting in
World War II.
-The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON
The discovery of the remains of a World War II navigator shocked and relieved his brother and sister-in-law, but also brought sorrow to the family of 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly because his parents never knew their son's fate.
"The irony is that my brother had been on 45 missions and had five more to go and he would have been discharged," said Sam Kelly, 83, of Commerce Township. "Archie" Kelly's B-24 crashed south of Dubrovnik in Croatia near the Adriatic Sea on July 22, 1944. He bailed out, but his parachute became tangled and he smashed into a mountain.
The Department of Defense notified Sam Kelly and his wife, Katie, "sometime in February" that dental records matched the skeletal remains found in a shallow grave by a couple of Croatian children who were walking near the village of Cavtat.
Kelly had been listed as missing in action for 63 years.
The remains, first discovered in 2005, were a skeleton and a button from an American military uniform, said Capt. Robert Frazer of Lake Orion, who was among the military personnel to visit the Kelly family and tell them their brother's remains were identified.
"I don't quite feel complete," said Sam Kelly, who retired from General Motors Corp.
"But I'm 95 percent sure it's my brother. They checked the forensic info and then the dental remains and an independent dentist agreed it was my brother."
Archie Kelly, who was 23 when his plane crashed, was the first to parachute out of the damaged aircraft, Sam Kelly said he learned from survivors.
"According to the guy following him, it was very windy and my brother's parachute would not open right," said Kelly, who was two years younger than Archie.
"He was struggling to straighten the chute out when he smashed into a mountain," he added.
Of the 10 crew members, who were returning from bombing oil fields in Romania, eight survived, Kelly said.
"The survivors were captured by the Germans and released later on," he said.
Sam and Archie Kelly joined the military at the same time in 1942, Sam Kelly said.
"I would have felt more complete if they found my brother's dog tags. They found the dog tags of the second guy in the plane who didn't survive the crash. He was buried in a local (Croatian) cemetery and still has his dog tags," he said.
"Archie's parents were sad that they never learned what happened to their son," said Katie Kelly.
Jesse, the mother of the Kelly brothers, died in the mid-1980s. The brothers' father, James, died in the 1970s, said Sam Kelly, who served as a private in World War II.
"I have a picture of my brother's burial mount near Mount Snijeznica in Croatia," Kelly said.
Archie Kelly's remains are currently in a military facility in Hawaii and will be shipped to the United States just before the funeral service, Frazer said.
"We're relieved to know what happened," said Katie Kelly.
Telling family members a relative has died in the service is "the hardest thing I've ever had to do," said Frazer, a casualty assistance officer with 16 years military experience.
"My brother was a nice guy and got along with people," Sam Kelly said. "I just wish my parents could have known what happened."
A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. May 12 at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home in Walled Lake. Burial will follow at the Great Lakes National Cemetery with full military honors, said Tim Lynch Jr. of the funeral home.
----
View Cenotaph Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.
1st Lt. Archibald Kelly of the U.S. Army Air Forces was buried with full military honors.
Kelly was the navigator on a B-24J Liberator participating in a July 22, 1944, bombing raid of oil fields at Ploesti in Nazi-controlled Romania. The bomber was struck by anti-aircraft fire while returning to its base in Italy and crashed in what is now Croatia, about 430 miles southwest of Ploesti.
Of the 10 crewmen on board, eight survived and bailed out of the aircraft before it crashed. The rear gunner died and his body was later recovered. A surviving crewman saw Kelly bail out before the crash, but said he struck a rocky cliff face when the wind caught his parachute. Kelly's body was not found at that time.
Specialists from the Missing Personnel Office in 2005 interviewed residents who had information about World War II aircraft losses in the Dubrovnik area. One witness recalled a crash in which a crewman landed on a pile of rocks after his parachute failed to open. Local residents buried the soldier, but searchers could not locate the gravesite. The witness contacted U.S. authorities last June and said he had continued the search and found the gravesite. A recovery team found human remains at the site in September, and Kelly was identified through dental records and other forensic methods.
***************************************************************************************
WWII flier's remains found 63 years later - Apr 14, 2007
The remains of 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly were found in Croatia, 63 years after he was killed while fighting in
World War II.
-The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON
The discovery of the remains of a World War II navigator shocked and relieved his brother and sister-in-law, but also brought sorrow to the family of 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly because his parents never knew their son's fate.
"The irony is that my brother had been on 45 missions and had five more to go and he would have been discharged," said Sam Kelly, 83, of Commerce Township. "Archie" Kelly's B-24 crashed south of Dubrovnik in Croatia near the Adriatic Sea on July 22, 1944. He bailed out, but his parachute became tangled and he smashed into a mountain.
The Department of Defense notified Sam Kelly and his wife, Katie, "sometime in February" that dental records matched the skeletal remains found in a shallow grave by a couple of Croatian children who were walking near the village of Cavtat.
Kelly had been listed as missing in action for 63 years.
The remains, first discovered in 2005, were a skeleton and a button from an American military uniform, said Capt. Robert Frazer of Lake Orion, who was among the military personnel to visit the Kelly family and tell them their brother's remains were identified.
"I don't quite feel complete," said Sam Kelly, who retired from General Motors Corp.
"But I'm 95 percent sure it's my brother. They checked the forensic info and then the dental remains and an independent dentist agreed it was my brother."
Archie Kelly, who was 23 when his plane crashed, was the first to parachute out of the damaged aircraft, Sam Kelly said he learned from survivors.
"According to the guy following him, it was very windy and my brother's parachute would not open right," said Kelly, who was two years younger than Archie.
"He was struggling to straighten the chute out when he smashed into a mountain," he added.
Of the 10 crew members, who were returning from bombing oil fields in Romania, eight survived, Kelly said.
"The survivors were captured by the Germans and released later on," he said.
Sam and Archie Kelly joined the military at the same time in 1942, Sam Kelly said.
"I would have felt more complete if they found my brother's dog tags. They found the dog tags of the second guy in the plane who didn't survive the crash. He was buried in a local (Croatian) cemetery and still has his dog tags," he said.
"Archie's parents were sad that they never learned what happened to their son," said Katie Kelly.
Jesse, the mother of the Kelly brothers, died in the mid-1980s. The brothers' father, James, died in the 1970s, said Sam Kelly, who served as a private in World War II.
"I have a picture of my brother's burial mount near Mount Snijeznica in Croatia," Kelly said.
Archie Kelly's remains are currently in a military facility in Hawaii and will be shipped to the United States just before the funeral service, Frazer said.
"We're relieved to know what happened," said Katie Kelly.
Telling family members a relative has died in the service is "the hardest thing I've ever had to do," said Frazer, a casualty assistance officer with 16 years military experience.
"My brother was a nice guy and got along with people," Sam Kelly said. "I just wish my parents could have known what happened."
A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. May 12 at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home in Walled Lake. Burial will follow at the Great Lakes National Cemetery with full military honors, said Tim Lynch Jr. of the funeral home.
----
View Cenotaph Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.
Kelly was the navigator on a B-24J Liberator participating in a July 22, 1944, bombing raid of oil fields at Ploesti in Nazi-controlled Romania. The bomber was struck by anti-aircraft fire while returning to its base in Italy and crashed in what is now Croatia, about 430 miles southwest of Ploesti.
Of the 10 crewmen on board, eight survived and bailed out of the aircraft before it crashed. The rear gunner died and his body was later recovered. A surviving crewman saw Kelly bail out before the crash, but said he struck a rocky cliff face when the wind caught his parachute. Kelly's body was not found at that time.
Specialists from the Missing Personnel Office in 2005 interviewed residents who had information about World War II aircraft losses in the Dubrovnik area. One witness recalled a crash in which a crewman landed on a pile of rocks after his parachute failed to open. Local residents buried the soldier, but searchers could not locate the gravesite. The witness contacted U.S. authorities last June and said he had continued the search and found the gravesite. A recovery team found human remains at the site in September, and Kelly was identified through dental records and other forensic methods.
***************************************************************************************
WWII flier's remains found 63 years later - Apr 14, 2007
The remains of 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly were found in Croatia, 63 years after he was killed while fighting in
World War II.
-The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON
The discovery of the remains of a World War II navigator shocked and relieved his brother and sister-in-law, but also brought sorrow to the family of 1st Lt. Archibald Kelly because his parents never knew their son's fate.
"The irony is that my brother had been on 45 missions and had five more to go and he would have been discharged," said Sam Kelly, 83, of Commerce Township. "Archie" Kelly's B-24 crashed south of Dubrovnik in Croatia near the Adriatic Sea on July 22, 1944. He bailed out, but his parachute became tangled and he smashed into a mountain.
The Department of Defense notified Sam Kelly and his wife, Katie, "sometime in February" that dental records matched the skeletal remains found in a shallow grave by a couple of Croatian children who were walking near the village of Cavtat.
Kelly had been listed as missing in action for 63 years.
The remains, first discovered in 2005, were a skeleton and a button from an American military uniform, said Capt. Robert Frazer of Lake Orion, who was among the military personnel to visit the Kelly family and tell them their brother's remains were identified.
"I don't quite feel complete," said Sam Kelly, who retired from General Motors Corp.
"But I'm 95 percent sure it's my brother. They checked the forensic info and then the dental remains and an independent dentist agreed it was my brother."
Archie Kelly, who was 23 when his plane crashed, was the first to parachute out of the damaged aircraft, Sam Kelly said he learned from survivors.
"According to the guy following him, it was very windy and my brother's parachute would not open right," said Kelly, who was two years younger than Archie.
"He was struggling to straighten the chute out when he smashed into a mountain," he added.
Of the 10 crew members, who were returning from bombing oil fields in Romania, eight survived, Kelly said.
"The survivors were captured by the Germans and released later on," he said.
Sam and Archie Kelly joined the military at the same time in 1942, Sam Kelly said.
"I would have felt more complete if they found my brother's dog tags. They found the dog tags of the second guy in the plane who didn't survive the crash. He was buried in a local (Croatian) cemetery and still has his dog tags," he said.
"Archie's parents were sad that they never learned what happened to their son," said Katie Kelly.
Jesse, the mother of the Kelly brothers, died in the mid-1980s. The brothers' father, James, died in the 1970s, said Sam Kelly, who served as a private in World War II.
"I have a picture of my brother's burial mount near Mount Snijeznica in Croatia," Kelly said.
Archie Kelly's remains are currently in a military facility in Hawaii and will be shipped to the United States just before the funeral service, Frazer said.
"We're relieved to know what happened," said Katie Kelly.
Telling family members a relative has died in the service is "the hardest thing I've ever had to do," said Frazer, a casualty assistance officer with 16 years military experience.
"My brother was a nice guy and got along with people," Sam Kelly said. "I just wish my parents could have known what happened."
A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. May 12 at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home in Walled Lake. Burial will follow at the Great Lakes National Cemetery with full military honors, said Tim Lynch Jr. of the funeral home.
----
View Cenotaph Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.
Inscription
1ST LT - U S ARMY - WORLD WAR II - KILLED IN ACTION
BELOVED SON OF JESSE AND JAMES
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