Remains of missing WWII pilot buried in Boulder City

The family of Lt. Robert D. McKee has finally had some closure regarding their loved one, albeit 80 years later.

Last summer, McKee’s remains, found during an excavation project in Germany were identified and were returned. His remains were buried at the Southern Nevada Veterans Cemetery in Boulder City last Friday. A special service and flyover took place that included members of his family, military personnel and guests. His closest known relative is McKee’s second-cousin, Norman Maul, whose family lives in Las Vegas.

“To me I think it’s a homecoming for a veteran missing in action,” Delane Fitzpatrick-Maul, the daughter-in law of Norman Maul, told the Review.

Norman Maul and his children, their spouses and a grandson were on hand for both a ceremony in the cemetery’s chapel and the burial afterwards.

“We didn’t even know of Lt. McKee’s existence until the military informed us and said they were looking for the closest living relative, which is my father,” said Rick Maul, who would have been Lt. McKee’s third cousin.

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), in spring of 1944, McKee, who was 27 at the time and from Portland, Ore., was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing in Europe. On April 8, McKee was the co-pilot onboard a B-24H “Liberator” called the “Little Joe” when his plane was shot down while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany.

“Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with Little Joe did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel,” The DPAA reported. “The crash site could not be located by Allied Forces during the war and the remains of all 10 crewmembers, including McKee, were unaccounted for following the war.”

Shortly after the war ended, the American Graves Registration Command, which searched for fallen American personnel in Europe, was formed. The DPAA reported that the group began investigations of several aircraft shot down in the area of McKee’s aircraft. At the time, however, they could not locate the crash site or remains from anyone aboard Little Joe.

There was hope in 2015 when an independent group found various pieces of the wreckage and possible remains, but they could not be identified.

Between 2021 and 2023, DPAA investigators returned to the crash site.

“By the end of 2023, all evidence, including possible osseous (bone) remains and possible life support equipment had been recovered and returned to the DPAA laboratory,” the report states.

To identify McKee’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and dental analysis as well as DNA to positively identify McKee.

McKee’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, along with the others whose remains were never found. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has now been accounted for.

“This is definitely closure for the family,” Fitzpatrick-Maul said after the ceremony. “It was an honor to have everyone here and well-deserved.”