Photo: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
(Glenwood, IA ) -- Flags are flying at half staff today across Iowa.
Governor Kim Reynolds ordered the lowering of flags from sunrise to sunset to honor a fallen soldier from Pacific Junction, Iowa, who was killed during World War II.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lieutenant Blaine Wilcox was killed in action during a bombing mission over Germany on October 7, 1944. His B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed near the village of Kattenjof. Wilcox's crew was on a mission targeting a German synthetic oil refinery in Politz, Germany. His remains were just recently identified.
Wilcox will be buried in Glenwood this afternoon with full military honors, 81 years to the day of his death. Wilcox was 26 years old.
Wilcox's brother, Flight Officer Laval Wilcox, was also killed during WWII. He was forced to bail from his aircraft over the English Channel and was never found.