Minnesota sailor, killed during D-Day, identified after 72 years

(KMSP) - A Minnesota sailor missing in action since World War II is finally coming home. This past weekend, the family of John Anderson received word that his remains have been identified.

It's a case the Fox 9 Investigators first reported on more than a year ago, after the U.S. Pentagon initially refused to test the remains.

John Anderson, of Willmar, Minn. was killed in one of the greatest battles of World War II, the D-Day invasion when his ship, an LCT 30, was hit by a Nazi explosive.

For decades, the family believed Anderson's body had washed out to sea, then six years ago, some researchers found records indicating he was actually buried in a grave marked "unknown" at an American cemetery in France.

The family repeatedly asked the Pentagon to do DNA testing of the remains. 

After the Fox 9 Investigators profiled the case, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar put additional heat on the Department of Defense.

The remains were then exhumed last fall and brought to a military forensics lab in Nebraska where they were positively identified as Anderson.

"It's a great relief because the journey has been such a long one," said Anderson's nephew, Don Franklin.

The family plans to lay Anderson to rest next to his parents at a cemetery in Willmar. They kept a space for him, hoping one day he would return.

Kandiyohi, MN resident Jon Lindstrand is a military history buff who worked closely with the family during this time and is now helping them to make the funeral arrangements.  Lindstrand has researched and detailed the story of John E Anderson:   http://www.usmhc.org/biographies/Anderson_John.pdf