AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy – The 724th Air Mobility Squadron conducted an enroute honorable carry of nine caskets containing the remains of unidentified service members, through Aviano Air Base, Italy, June 27, 2022.
These remains, suspected to be World War II service members, were located at the Florence American Cemetery, in Italy. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) coordinated the disinterment of the remains.
DPAA provides accounting of missing personnel to families and the nation. They work with the cemeteries across the globe for annual assessment.
“I used to work at DPAA, being involved in this mission is close to my heart and very rewarding,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Cassandra Hill, 724th AMS director of operations. “We are supporting service members in bringing them home no matter when they served.”
During their time at Aviano AB, human remains were treated with respect, care and dignity before reaching their final resting place.
The remains were then picked up by the 37th Airlift Squadron based out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany to continue their journey to the United States. There, the remains will go to a DPAA lab for forensic and DNA collections by anthropologists and archeologists to not only identify the service member but to also notify the families.
“They deserve this respect to go home,” said Airman 1st Class Alan Adcock, 724th AMS operations technician.
“We never leave a man behind.”