U.S. Army Air Forces, Soldiers' remains from WWII to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery

By Army Public AffairsSeptember 17, 2015

Five missing U.S. servicemembers who have been accounted for were buried Sept. 17 in Arlington National Cemetery.

Army Air Forces Lt. Col. Harry J. Zimmerman, 36, of Fremont, Ohio, Capt. Carney L. Dowlen, 42, of Dallas, Texas, Sgt. Charles O. Richardson, 23, of Charlevoix, Michigan, Pvt. Erwin G. Austin, 23, of Monroe Maine, and Pvt. Peter P. Couzins, 23, of Cincinnati, Ohio, were buried with full military honors.

The burial included the group representing the five missing servicemembers, and also Richardson as an individual.

On Nov. 2, 1942, a crew of nine in an U.S. Army Air Forces OA-10 Catalina departed from Presque Isle Army Air Field in Maine en-route to Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan, Quebec, Canada, on a routine military mission. The aircraft landed safely, but upon departure the aircraft encountered rough water with heavy swells. The impact of the waves caused the aircraft to

crash into the sea. Four men were able to escape and be rescued by area fishing boats, but the remaining five men, including Zimmerman, Dowlen, Richardson, Austin, and Couzins were unable to exit the aircraft and were lost at sea.

Searches continued after the incident, but no one was recovered. The American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) declared the five unaccounted for crewmembers' to have died and determined they were not recoverable.

In June 2009, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) was notified by the U.S. Defense Attaché in Canada that the Chief of Historical Sites for Parks Canada had discovered a Catalina aircraft off the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. In 2009, JPAC investigated the site and it was excavated and recovered in 2012.