P-47 Thunderbolt Pilot’s Remains Discovered Embedded In A Tree After 72 Years

Finally Back Home.

This heartfelt story was only broadcasted by the local news in Seatle, Washington as it was the home state of the World War II pilot in question. The story was released on July 14th, 2017 and we’re sad to say never really reached national news. That’s why it took us so long to find it.

1st Lt. William Gray of the U.S. Army Air Forces was went down in Germany at the end of the war in 1945. There were two witnesses who saw the pilot dive bombing a target, clipping a tree and crashing into the forest. It took over 70 years to recover him.

Local WWII veteran’s remains recovered more than 70 years later, in a tree https://t.co/ufY6pCewDr pic.twitter.com/rLioDvh7Fs

— #Q13FOX (@Q13FOX) July 15, 2017

An Army crew working a case in a German forest were somehow made aware of the two witness accounts that Lt. Gray went down near their site and started excavating. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency which is tasked with returning lost soldiers home, spent weeks going over the floor of the forest inch by inch. They eventually found Gray in the roots of a tree. With DNA testing, they proved it was him and returned the remains to the family.

Below, you’ll find the local news clip of this heartfelt story. His best friend vowed to take care of his sister if things went wrong and here’s what his future generation had to say about it all.

RIP airman.