LIMA, OH (WLIO) - A World War II soldier from Lima will finally be able to rest in peace after decades of political red tape prevented that from happening.
U.S. Army Air Force's 1st Lieutenant Carl Nesbitt will be interred on May 15th at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville, Pennsylvania. Nesbitt was piloting a B-17G Flying Fortress during a bombing mission over Germany in May 1944 when his plane was shot down. 6 of 10 crew members survived. The 23-year-old's body was recovered and was believed to have been buried in a local cemetery. After decades of recovery efforts, Nesbitt's remains were identified with DNA analysis in September 2022. Nesbitt is now being put to rest back home, here in the United States.
Press Release from U. S. Army Human Resources Command Public Affairs Office: FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of a Soldier killed during World War II will be interred May 15, at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville, Pennsylvania. Graveside services for U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Carl D. Nesbitt will be performed by Neill Funeral Home, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, preceding the interment.
A native of Lima, Ohio, Nesbitt was assigned to the 569th Bombardment Squadron, 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 13th Bombardment Wing, 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force. He was piloting a B-17G Flying Fortress bomber during a bombing mission over Leipzig, Germany, May 29, 1944, when his plane was shot down after enemy fighters attacked the bomber’s formation roughly 28 miles northeast Leipzig. Six of the 10 crew members were able to escape the plane before it crashed near Horst, while the rest, including Nesbitt, were killed. Bodies recovered from the crash were believed to have been buried in a local cemetery. There was no evidence of Nesbitt being held prisoner of war or having survived, so a finding of death was issued a year after the crash. He was 23 years old.
The American Graves Registration Command, charged with recovering the remains of fallen service members in the European Theater, found the remains of one of the crew members buried in a cemetery in Horst in September 1946. Worsening diplomatic relations after 1950 with the Soviet Union, that controlled this part of Germany at the time, prevented the AGRC from investigating further. Nesbitt was declared non-recoverable April 21, 1953.
In July 2012, investigators recovered evidence of a B-17 at the crash site. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency excavated the site in July and August 2019, recovering possible material evidence and remains that were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for scientific analysis.
Nesbitt was accounted for by the DPAA Sept. 9, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial and material evidence as well as dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.
His name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site, in Hombourg, Belgium, along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
For additional information about 1st Lt. Nesbitt, go to:Â https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3162685/pilot-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-nesbitt-c/
To learn more about the Department of Defense’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call (703) 699-1420/1169.
