Seaside WWII veteran to be brought back and buried home on Sept. 11
SEASIDE, Calif. (KION-TV)- A Navy Aviation Radioman 1st Class who was shot down in Palau during WWII is returning home after forensic analysis identified his remains earlier this year.
On Sept. 10, 1945, Wilbur Mitts was part of a three-member aircrew of a TBM-1 Avenger, from Torpedo Squadron (VT) 20, that took off from USS Enterprise (CV 6) on a pre-invasion strike against Japanese forces and installations as part of Operation Forager. The plane was last seen spinning violently before it crashed into the sea a few hundred feet from Malakal Island.
All three members were killed in the incident, Mitts was 21 at the time of his passing. Mitts was declared killed in action the following day and awarded a posthumously Purple Heart. Mitts was memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
In 1947, the American Graves Registration Service made extensive efforts to locate missing American servicemen after the war but never found Mitts' aircraft.
In 2003, the BentProp Project (now Project Recover) found the remains of the plane just off Malakal Island after several attempts.
Mitts' remains were recovered in 2019 and 2021. Forensic analysis identified him as ARM1c Wilbur Mitts on Feb. 23.
Mitts will be buried in his hometown of Seaside on Sept. 11. There will be a burial at Mission Memorial Park Cemetery in Seaside from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
His body will arrive at San Jose International Airport on Thursday and he will be taken to Seaside the same day by motorcade.
