WWII sergeant whose plane was shot down over Germany returned home

LOS ANGELES — After 80 years, a World Warfare II sergeant killed in Germany has returned house to California.

On Thursday, neighborhood members lined the roads to honor U.S. Military Air Pressure Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta as he was introduced from Ontario Worldwide Airport to a burial house in Riverside, California.

Banta, 21, was killed in motion in early 1944 when his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft hearth over Gotha, Germany, in accordance with Honoring Our Fallen, a corporation that gives help to households of fallen army and first responders.

One of many surviving crew members noticed the aircraft was on hearth, then fell in a steep dive earlier than exploding on the bottom. After the crash, German troops buried the stays of 1 soldier at an area cemetery, whereas the opposite six crewmembers, together with Banta, have been unaccounted for.

Banta was married and had 4 sisters and a brother. He joined the army due to his older brother Floyd Jack Banta, who looked for Donald Banta his complete life however handed away earlier than he was discovered.

Donald Banta’s niece was current on the plane-side honors ceremony on the Ontario airport coordinated by Honoring Our Fallen.

The stays from the aircraft crash have been initially recovered in 1952, however they might not be recognized on the time and have been buried in Belgium. Banta was accounted for Sept. 26, 2023, following efforts by the Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company throughout the U.S. Division of Protection and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.