KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – After 80 years, World War II veteran Richard J. Kasten from Kalamazoo has been laid to rest.
Kasten, a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Force, was buried Tuesday at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Battle Creek.
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He was part of a B-24D Liberator bomber crew when his plane was shot down over France in 1944. While German forces recovered three sets of remains from the crash and interred them in a French cemetery, Kasten’s remains were not identified until 2019 when DNA analysis confirmed their identity.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Kasten’s remains were identified in July of 2023.
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