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Army soldiers in dark ceremonial uniforms are carrying two flag-draped caskets across a green lawn towards their separate graves, which are covered with green cloth and metal frames for lowering the casket into the ground.


Soldiers from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and the U.S. Army Band, "Pershing's Own" conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Porter Pile and Tech. Sgt. James Triplett in Section 81 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., Oct. 31, 2023. Pile and Triplett went down with their B-24H Liberator bomber over Germany on Sept. 27, 1944. During a raid on the German city of Kassel, approximately 150 enemy fighters attacked 36 bombers of the 700th Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group. Pile and Triplett’s bomber suffered heavy damage and caught fire. Three men bailed out but Pile, Triplett, and three other crewmen were lost. Both Pile and Triplett’s bodies were not recovered, and the War Department issued a finding of death on Sept. 28, 1945. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) recovery teams performed excavation operations at the crash site in 2009, 2015, and 1016. Remains recovered from the site were sent to the DPAA laboratory for examination and identification. Triplett was accounted for Oct. 25, 2022, and Pile was accounted for Nov. 28, 2022. Pile’s great grandnephew, Porter Spencer, received the U.S. flag from Pile’s casket. Triplett’s nephew, Thomas Triplett, received the U.S. flag from Triplett’s casket. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)

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