GLENWOOD, Iowa —

An Iowan will be laid to rest more than 80 years after his death in World War II.

Second Lt. Blaine Wilcox of Pacific Junction was an Army Air Forces pilot. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says that, during a bombing mission targeting a German synthetic oil refinery in Politz, Germany on Oct. 7, 1944, Wilcox’s B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire. It crashed near the village of Kattenhof, Germany. All nine crewmembers, including Wilcox, were killed. Wilcox was 26.

Five sets of remains were recovered from the crash site by Americans in 1948. Two were identified. The other remains were transported to the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neuville, Belgium. They were interred in a group burial at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kent

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