WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that a U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sargent who was killed in World War II has now been accounted for.
Stephen J. Fatur, 19, of Slickville, Pennsylvania, was a member of the 429th Bombardment Squadron, 2nd Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force.
On March 22, 1945, Fatur was serving as the tail gunner aboard a B-17G “Flying Fortress”. The aircraft crashed near the village of Glinica, Poland, killing seven of the ten crewmembers on board. Fatur’s remains were not accounted for after the war.
Photo courtesy of DPAA
Photo courtesy of DPAA
Photo courtesy of DPAA
The American Graves Registration Command was tasked with recovering the remains of U.S. servicemen in Europe; however, the AGRC investigations in the Soviet occupied regions, including Poland, were severely limited.
DPAA partnered with Alta Archaeological Consulting to conduct excavations at the site where Fatur’s aircraft crashed between 2019 and 2024. It was during these evacuations that unidentified remains were recovered and sent back to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
Scientists at DPAA’s lab were able to use dental and anthropological analysis to positively identify Fatur’s remains. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System were also able to confirm the match through DNA analysis.
A rosette will be placed next to Fatur’s name at the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl to indicate he has been accounted for.
Fatur will now be laid to rest in Delmont, Pennsylvania.
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Fatur’s full profile and additional information about the War Department’s accounting efforts can be viewed on the DPAA website.
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