World War II Pilot Identified 75 Years After His Death As Pittsburgh Man
WASHINGTON D.C. (KDKA) -- A pilot that was killed in Italy during World War II was identified as a Pittsburgh man.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Thursday that Army 1st. Lt. Herschel H. Mattes, 22, was accounted for July 29, 2019, after his death in early 1944.
The release said Mattes was a pilot assigned to the 525th Fighter-Bober Squadron, 86th Fighter-Bomber Group. He was participating in an armed reconnaissance mission on March 6, 1944, when his aircraft was shot down by small arms or machine-gun fire approximately 2.5 miles from Lake Bracciano, Italy.
His remains were not recovered immediately following the crash, and it was not until 1947 when the American Graves Registration Service recovered remains on the grounds of an estate near Lake Bracciano, the release said.
The remains could not initially be identified and were sent to a cemetery in Sicily.
On Aug. 4, 2015, the Department of Defense used anthropological analysis to begin the process of identifying Mattes.
He will be buried Monday in Connecticut.