FORT KNOX, Ky. — Nearly 80 years after his life was cut short, a Minnesotan killed overseas during World War II will be laid to rest.
Air Force 2nd Lt. William J. McGowan, of Benson, Minnesota, will be interred at Normandy American Cemetery on July 9, according to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command.
McGowan, who was a member of the 391st Fighter Squadron, 366th Fighter Group, 9th U.S. Air Force, died on June 6, 1944, at the age of 23 when his P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed while on a mission near the city of Saint-Lo, France.
Three years after the crash, an investigator with the American Graves Registration Command removed the wreck but couldn't locate McGowan's remains. Witnesses reportedly told investigators that the aircraft burned for more than a day after impac.
At the time, McGowan's remains were declared non-recoverable. Fast forward to the summer of 2018, the crash site was excavated and remains were sent to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for analysis. The following May, McGowan's remains were finally identified using "circumstantial and material evidence as well as dental and anthropological analysis."
McGowan's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Center in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII. According to the Army Human Resources Command, a rosette will be placed next to McGowan's name to indicate his remains have been identified.
The remains of several other WWII soldiers from Minnesota have been identified in recent years thanks to advanced DNA technology. Army Air Forces Captain Nando A. Cavalieri, originally from Eveleth, was accounted for on July 27, 2021. His final resting place is in Arlington National Cemetery.
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Alan E. Petersen, who was killed on Aug. 1, 1943, while serving as a bombardier during Operation TIDAL WAVE over Romania, was also identified in the summer of 2021. The Brownton native was buried in Glencoe on Oct. 30, 2021.
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