The entire CREW interred together at Arlington.

From the "392nd Bomb Group Memorial Association" Dec. 2011 Issue. Above article and pictures hared with the permission of Annette Tyson, an Editor of the Newsletter, to Barbi Ennis Connolly (WWII Historical Researcher).

OHIO News Herald; 21 Oct. 2011

Mike's Nephew Larry Wittal, USAF Vietnam Vet (and his twin brother Allen, US Navy Veteran, USS Enterprise / Vietnam) are a members of our Church, St. Catherine Laboure' Catholic Church in Chino Valley, AZ … in addition to information from Larry's sister Joyce Wittal ( of Huntington Beach,CA, I believe)…. In 2005, Joyce's son, Robert and Joyce and my Aunt Rosey all gave DNA, and in 07or 08 we HAD a match for some of the remains! Aunt Lucy was never named Luce!? Our Grandmother Maria Francesca died in 1942, but our Grandfather Michele died in 1959. He was alive and anguished to hear the news about his baby boy.

WWII Historical Researcher; PRINCESSBARBIB25@msn.com_

By Michael C. Butz
MButz@News-Herald.com

     A year ago, Sgt. Michael A. Chiodo — who died in World War II but whose remains weren’t found and identified until decades later — was buried with full military honors at Western Reserve Memorial Garden in Chester Township.
     On Wednesday, Chiodo will receive a second burial — this time at Arlington National Cemetery.
    “It means a lot,” said Michael’s sister, Rose Chiodo, 88, of Mayfield Heights. “Most of the heroes are buried there.”
     Michael and the nine other soldiers who died with him on April 29, 1944, will be buried as a group at Arlington National Cemetery, according to the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). Two of the soldiers will also be interred individually at Arlington on the same day as the group interment.
    Rose said she recently got out of the hospital and won’t be able to make the trip to Arlington, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C. However, her niece, Joyce Wittal, will travel from California and serve as the family’s representative at the ceremony.
     Rose feels Michael’s burial at Arlington on Wednesday will send a uniquely important message to other families whose relatives’ remains still haven’t been accounted for.
    “He’s one of the few they found the remains for,” she said. “I think (the burial) will give hope to other people.”
      On April 29, 1944, the Eighth Air Force ordered more than 600 aircraft to bomb the railroad system in Berlin. Michael, who was from Cleveland, was the assistant radio operator aboard a B-24J Liberator that took off from Wendling Air Base in County Norfolk, England.
    The aircraft crashed with nine other crew members aboard when attacked by German fighters before reaching the target.
    The location of the crash could not be determined during the dogfights, but other crew members’ observations placed it north of Hanover.
         On July 4, 1944, Rose said, their family was informed that her brother was dead. He was 22.
     “He was just beginning to start his life,” Rose said. “It was a hard thing. My mother, thank God she had passed away the year before so she didn’t know.”
     In 2003, a German citizen began excavating the crash site near the village of Meitze and turned over human remains to U.S. officials.
     A joint POW/MIA Accounting Command team traveled to the crash site in 2005 and again in 2007, recovering additional remains and crew-related equipment, including identification tags for four of the crew members.
     Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, investigators used dental comparisons and DNA, which matched Rose, a niece and a great-nephew, in the identification of his remains.
   Rose said she was told in 2007 that the remains were those of her brother.
     The remains were flown back to Cleveland on Oct. 19, 2010, and the burial at Western Reserve Memorial Garden — attended by many who wished to pay their respects, including some who never knew the Chiodo family — was held the following day.
     “They had a beautiful ceremony,” Rose said. “I didn’t know most of them at all. … I was very much surprised.”
     Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died, according to the DPMO. At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000 Americans. Today, more than 73,000 remain unaccounted for from the conflict. ** By Michael C. Butz **

Michael A Chiodo