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Downed by lightning eight decades ago, a US airman is finally coming home

After nearly 82 years, the remains of US Army Air Force 1st Lt. Franklin McKinney have been identified and repatriated to the United States, ending his disappearance from a P-38 Lightning fighter crash in Thailand on November 5, 1944.
Records from the Royal Thai Air Force Museum reveal McKinney died when his aircraft suffered a midair lightning strike while on a reconnaissance mission to photograph Japanese positions from his base in China.
Author Dan Jackson and museum head Sakpinit Promthep located the crash site after discovering archival logs and interviewing witness Fong Inma, prompting Hawaii-based Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency specialists to begin excavations in 2022.
DPAA teams recovered bone fragments in March, confirming McKinney's identity, and a repatriation ceremony at the US Embassy in Bangkok honored the military's "sacred promise to leave no-one behind," as the embassy stated.
This recovery represents one success in an ongoing World War II identification mission; the DPAA reports 71,712 individuals remain missing worldwide since tracking began in 1973 with a list of 73,690 names.

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