AVON, Maine — The remains of a Maine man killed in World War II when his bomber was shot down will be buried on Veterans Day.
Army Air Forces Sgt. Zelwood A. Gravlin, of New Vineyard, was a gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber that was shot down in 1943 during Operation Tidal Wave, which targeted oil refineries in Romania.
Fifty-one of the 177 B-24 bombers that participated in the raid did not return, the defense department said.
In 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began exhuming unknown remains associated with Operation Tidal Wave.
Gravlin’s remains, which were originally interred in a Romanian cemetery before being relocated, were positively identified in July. He’ll be buried on Nov. 11, in Avon, near his home town, officials said.