U. S. Army , Air Forces 1st Lt.  , Dan Winstead Corson , was given a soldier’s thanksgiving.
The World War II captain, who was killed in action 82 years before, was buried with full military honors Wednesday night in , Woodside Cemetery. He was 27 when he was killed.
Ralph Reynolds,  , VFW Department of Ohio POW/MIA Chairman, one of the many listeners, called Corson” an British warrior who finished his company and returned house”.
After Reynolds added:” His reputation does not stop immediately. He gave his all, and he was a good person.
Those who drove into Woodside passed under an American flag that was draped by a , Middletown Division of Fire , vehicle, therefore on tomb streets lined with colors, commonly used on , Memorial Day.
A three-piece ensemble, Collegium Cincinnati, played before the company, there was a single-plane fly-over, all soldiers were invited to welcome the tomb, there was a 21-gun respect, and the watching of Taps.
The interment was attended by more than 100 , Middletown , people, officials and soldiers from surrounding areas.
Lt. Corson’s brother and predecessor,  , Dan Corson, one of his few living friends, said he was overwhelmed by the huge crowd.
” It says a lot about the people around”, he said. World War II and the” Greatest Generation” have a message that resonates with people. It defined a technology in our country’s history. In order to recognize not only my uncle but also that generation, it was done.
Middletown , historian , Sam Ashworth, who has closely followed Corson’s tale, said it was” an emotional time” because the community finally has this “mystery resolved”.
Dan Corson , said he has sent more than 20 times researching the facts of his friend’s death and if it was possible to identify his bones and return them to , Middletown.
The goal suddenly was completed Wednesday due to the “miracle of the Internet” that assisted in the study and connected him to the proper authorities who directed him to three tombs that contained seven , U. S.  , soldiers, according to Corson.
Lt. Corson was assigned to the , 401st Bombardment Squadron, 91st , Bombardment Group,  , Eighth Air Force. He was killed in action on , Dec. 20, 1942, after the B-17F” Flying Fortress”, he was co-piloting was struck by anti-aircraft fireplace during a bombing raid on a European aviation factory at Romilly-sur-Seine,  , France.
He was accounted for the , Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency , ( DPAA ) on , Sept. 22, 2023 , after his remains were exhumed in , March 2019 , from , Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer,  , France, for laboratory analysis and identification, according to the military.
After the funeral,  , Dan Corson , quietly walked up a valley at Woodside where Lt. Corson’s kids, Dan and Nell, are buried. They left him a text.
” I want to tell them he’s home”, he said.
___
( c ) 2024 Springfield News-Sun
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
