WWII Airman Finally Coming Home To Maryland

BEL AIR, MD — A World War II airman finally will come home to Harford County Friday and the community can join the welcome party.

On May 29, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Walter R. Bateman, who went missing during World War II. Bateman was 22 when he was shot down over Italy, according to reports.

Now, 83 years later, Bateman will be laid to rest in Harford County in September.

Bateman was declared deceased on Aug. 17, 1944, and was a member of the 44th Bomber Group, Heavy, 67th Bomber Squadron with the Air Force. He was listed as missing in action, according to Honor States.

On Aug. 16, 1943, he piloted a B-24D Liberator that took off from Benina, Libya, along with 25 other B-24s on a bombing mission against enemy airfields at Foggia, Italy. The operation inflicted heavy damage on the targets, but seven of the aircraft, including his B-24D, failed to return to base, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Searchers found no possible crash location nor any signs or remains of the 10 missing crew members. In April 1945, the American Graves Registration Command recovered several unidentified, commingled sets of remains buried in the Cemetery of Lacedonia, Italy. The remains were reportedly of American airmen who were shot down on Aug. 16, 1943, the agency stated.

Investigators located the aircraft wreckage but could not find any information to identify the aircraft at the crash site. The remains could not be identified at the time and were interred as unknowns in the U.S. Military Cemetery in Naples.

In June 2022, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed the unknowns and transferred them to the DPAA laboratory. There, scientists used modern forensic techniques to identify Bateman.

A motorcade will escort Bateman’s remains Friday from BWI Marshall Airport to the Schimunek Funeral Home in Bel Air. He is expected to reach Bel Air by 7:30 p.m., where numerous veterans’ groups, county officials and community members are expected to welcome him, according to officials.

"His return after 83 years is more than the recovery of a World War II airman. It’s the fulfillment of America’s promise to all those who serve — that they will never be forgotten and we will not rest until they are home. I encourage our citizens to join our veterans’ community in giving a hero’s welcome to this good and faithful servant of our great nation,” Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly told the Baltimore Sun.