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An Army Soldier wearing a dark ceremonial uniform and white gloves is handing a folded US flag to several family members of a fallen veteran. They are seated in green chairs and dressed in various colors of suits.


The U.S. flag is presented to Thomas Triplett following the funeral service for Triplett's uncle, U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. James Triplett in Section 81 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., Oct. 31, 2023. Military funeral honors for U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Porter Pile were conducted during the same service. 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. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)

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