FORT BRAGG, N.C. — After 75 years, the body of an 82nd Airborne soldier has come home.
On September 18, 1944, PFC Clifford Mills, from Troy, Indiana, was killed after a 319th, 82nd Airborne Division Artillery Glider crashed behind enemy lines near Wyler, Germany.
The efforts to find Mills’ body started 12 years ago in the Netherlands. That’s where a man named, Nowy van Hedel adopted PFC Mills and made it his own mission to find closure. According to Fort Bragg, the man kept of photo of Mills in his living room as a reminder of the sacrifice that was made during World War II.
Hedel received a call in January from the Mills family informing him the soldier’s body was returning home.
In a touching memorial, Representatives from three 82nd Airborne Division Field Artillery Battalions carried PFC Mills the last few yards to his final resting place, next to his wife.
There are still more than 70,000 WWII Americans missing in action.