![](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/211011153108-ernest-n-vienneau-super-tease.jpg)
His B-17 Flying Fortress bomber came under heavy fire during a mission and a piece of flank tore through the cockpit and struck Vienneau in the head, killing him, the release said. The crew treated him and tried to make it back to base but had to ditch the aircraft off the coast of Croatia with Vienneau’s body inside.
His body couldn’t be found until recently.
His remains were recovered last fall after crews excavated the crash site discovered in 2005, the release said. He was officially identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in April using dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Vienneu’s remains were then returned to his hometown of Millinocket, Maine, and buried on Saturday next to his parents.
Members of his family, veterans, and the community all came to pay their respects, WABI reported.
Vienneu’s name has been recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, and now a rosette will show he has been accounted for.