A World War II Veteran from the region is coming back to the Ozarks after being MIA for 79 Years.

According to a press release from the Veterans &  Military Coalition of the Ozarks, Staff Sergeant Moses Frank Tate, a 23-year-old U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), served with the 415th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force, during World War II as a tail gunner on a B-24 bomber.  On August 1, 1943, Staff Sergeant Tate was killed while participating in this code-named Operation Tidal Wave, a bombing raid against the oil refineries around Romania but his body was never recovered. 

Through various efforts over the decades since, remains from that and other WWII battles were recovered and this past spring, relatives of Sgt. Tate were notified that his remains had been positively identified thanks to DNA comparison from the remains to families members. 

A Memorial Service for Sgt. Tate is taking place on October 27 at Faith Lutheran Church in Branson with a burial to follow at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Springfield. 

The complete release with more details on the discovery and identification of Sgt. Moses Tate can be found with the full release below from the VMCO:

“I…