The body of a Millen serviceman missing in action in World War II has been identified and recovered.

The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (Public Affairs), Washington, D.C., reported July 1 that the remains of 1st Lt. Robert M. Anderson of Millen, along with six other servicemen, were discovered 31 miles northwest of Myitkyina, Burma. The men were aboard a cargo plane that left India May 23, 1944, heading to resupply Allied forces near Myitkyina. They never returned and no crash site was ever discovered.

In 2002, a missionary found a data plate from the plane and presented it to U.S. officials. A military team later excavated the site.

A June 29, 1944 article in The Millen News concerning the incident reads, “Bob Anderson is reported missing in India as of May 23. Bob was popular here in Millen where his parents formerly lived and where Mr. Anderson died. Dr. Anderson lives in Savannah.”

1st Lt. Anderson, along with Capt. Joseph M. Olbinski, Chicago, Ill.; 1st Lt. Joseph J. Auld, Floral Park, N.Y.; Tech. Sgt. Clarence E. Frantz, Tyrone, Penn.; Pfc. Richard M. Dawson, Haynesville, Va.; Pvt. Robert L. Crane, Sacramento, Calif.; and Pvt. Fred G. Fagan, Piedmont, Ala.; will be buried July 15 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. with full military honors.