By Jill Reilly x A pair of Second World War airmen are to be buried with military honours 70 years after their plane went down in Papua New Guinea. The remains of 1st Lts. William Bernier and Bryant Poulsen were identified through DNA and other evidence collected from the crash site in a forest on the Pacific island nation, said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan with the Defense Prisoner of War-Missing Personnel Office. Bernier was from Augusta, Montana, and Poulsen from Salt Lake City, Utah. On April 10, 1944, their B-24D Liberator nicknamed 'Hot Garters' took off from an air base in eastern Papua New Guinea.
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Remains of 1st Lts. William Bernier and Bryant Poulsen identified by DNA
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Bernier was from Augusta, Montana, and Poulsen from Salt Lake City, Utah
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Plane went down after being hit by anti-aircraft fire over the city of Madang
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Several other crew members also have been recently accounted for
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