The remains of a U.S. pilot missing since the Vietnam War were identified as those of Capt. Clyde W. Campbell of Texas, the Defense Department said Wednesday.
The department's POW/Missing Personnel Office said in a release Campbell's remains would be returned to his family. He is to be buried with full military honors Thursday in Arlington National Cemetery.
The Air Force pilot, who was from Longview, Texas, was flying an A-1J Skyraider that crashed March 1, 1969, while carrying out a close air-support mission in Houaphan province in Laos.
The aircraft's crash site was investigated in 1997, and recovery teams excavated the site three times from 2009 to 2010, the Defense Department said.
Military scientists used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools to identify Campbell's remains.
