Forensic anthropologists at Offutt Air Force Base have recently identified the remains of a missing World War II pilot who earned the Medal of Honor for his role in a spectacular 1943 raid on German oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania.
DNA samples from relatives of Lt. Col. Addison Baker matched bones buried for decades at a U.S. military cemetery in Belgium, in a grave marked “unknown,” the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced recently.
World War II Lt. Col. Addison Baker, 36, died in the famous “Black Sunday” raid on the Ploesti oil refinery complex on August 1, 1943.
According to Dr. Franklin Dammon, the Offutt Air Force Base lab became fully operational in 2013 to accommodate the growth of the agency and expansion of the mission. In 2013, the Nebraska lab was part of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Agency, a predecessor command to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). DPAA was officially formed in 2015.
After a nationwide search, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Agency (a predecessor command to DPAA) initiated a renovation project in 2012 at the site of the old AFWA space in Building 301D, the Martin Bomber Building, Offutt AFB. The renovation was approximately $5M and converted the office spaces to temporary lab space for the forensic analyses of recovered evidence.
Today, the lab employs around 50 people, including staff from five different Agency directorates. The primary function of the DPAA Nebraska facility is a forensic testing laboratory, so the overwhelming majority are scientific staff members.
For a forensic anthropologist, every day is a bit different. DPAA Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Katie East said, “Typically, part of their time is spent working on the lab floor, carrying out scientific analysis of skeletal remains or material evidence. The rest of the time is spent writing reports to communicate the results of those scientific analyses with families. However, DPAA Nebraska also has historians, odontologists, evidence coordinators, logistics, and other support staff, and their days would be quite different.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the DPAA adapted to allow scientists to continue their important work. Occupancy limits were placed on the lab space. Initially, all work was done remotely, but more recently lab personnel have been allowed to return to the office on a limited basis. Dr. East mentioned how their work in previous years on a computer inventory system has been instrumental in working during COVID-19, “Thankfully, we have worked hard over the last several years to implement an electronic system of inventorying and report writing. Therefore, we have been able to keep our work tempo at a high pace as we transition between remote and in-person work.”
The DPAA has successfully accounted for and identified nearly 1,150 Service members since the fiscal year 2016. Half of those individuals were identified by the DPAA Nebraska Laboratory at Offutt AFB.
In addition to the previously mentioned Lt. Col. Addison Baker, another recent identification made at Offutt’s DPAA lab is Private First Class David N. Owens. Pfc Owens was lost in 1944 during fighting in the Hürtgen Forest of Germany. His body could not be recovered, and the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. He was declared killed in action on November 23, 1945.
To identify Owens’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
When asked about the future of the lab and its place at Offutt, Dr. Dammon said, “The support of Offutt Air Force Base and the 55th Wing is instrumental in the success of the DPAA-Nebraska Laboratory. With the future of the Martin Bomber Building in question, the Laboratory is looking to construct a more purpose-built laboratory facility in the Bellevue/Offutt AFB community. The facility is still in the early planning stages. Regardless of where the new facility is located, a close working relationship with the 55th Wing and the broader Offutt AFB community will continue to be a priority of our operations.”
Photos Courtesy of the DPAA-Nebraska Laboratory and Offutt AFB Public Relations
