(1-16-23) Lima native First Lieutenant Carl D.Nesbitt will be buried in Annville, Pennsylvania on May 15th. The World War II pilot was positively identified in September of 2022.. 

Courtesy Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Press Release

On September 9, 2022, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of First Lieutenant Carl D. Nesbitt of Lima,Ohio, missing from World War II.

First Lieutenant Nesbitt entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Lima, Ohio and served in the 569th Bombardment Squadron, 390th Bombardment Group. On May 29, 1944, he was the pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-39953) with a crew of ten that took part in a bombing mission against enemy targets near Leipzig, Germany. During the mission, the plane was damaged by enemy fighters, caught fire, and fell out of formation. Six men succeeded in parachuting from the stricken bomber before it crashed near Horst, Brandenburg, Germany. They later returned to U.S. custody. Witnesses saw one crew member attempt to bail out from low altitude, but his parachute did not deploy, and the man was killed.

His remains were buried in a civilian cemetery and later recovered. 1LT Nesbitt was one of three crew members whose remains were not recovered at the time.

In July 2012, an investigation team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a DPAA predecessor organization, found the crash site and recovered evidence of a B-17 crash. In 2019, the DPAA contracted a private organization to excavate this crash site.

The team recovered material evidence and traces of human remains. These materials were then transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established an association between these remains and the three unaccounted-for fliers from the aircraft, including 1LT Nesbitt.

Article courtesy: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Press Release