Exhumed from France, World War II soldier to be buried in Kent

KENT, Wash. — After 80 years, the remains of a World War II soldier will be buried at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent on August 7.

On Monday, the U.S. Army announced that the remains of United States Army Air Forces Major Theodore E. Willhite will be buried at Tahoma National Cemetery 80 years after his airplane went down over France.

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, on March 11, 1944, Major Willhite, pilot of a B-24 Liberator, flew out of Italy on a bombing mission over Toulan Harbor, France.

After dropping his payload, witnesses reported seeing the airplane struck, break in half after an onboard explosion and fall into the water.

Witnesses reported not seeing parachutes before the crash and Major Willhite, and his crew of 10 soldiers, were believed to have died that day.

In 1945 while interred as unknown at the Rhône American Cemetery in France, a team from the U.S. Army registration exhumed 25 graves believed to belong to allied service members and found the remains of seven of those aboard his airplane.

Four other remains could not be identified but in June 2019, The Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed the remaining four unidentified remains and through laboratory analysis, determined that one of the four was Major Willhite.

Major Willhite was positively identified on July 13, 2023, and considered accounted for on September 19, 2023.

Through diligent work, the Army was able to identify and verify next of kin through DNA samples and inform them about benefits due, including burial with full military honors.

A native of Muscatine, Iowa, Willhite enlisted into the U.S. Army Air Forces where he was assigned to the 451st Bombardment Group.

The Gaffney Funeral Home in Tacoma will perform graveside services preceding the interment.

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