An Eveleth man's remains have been recovered approximately 76 years after his plane was struck down while flying over Berlin. His remains were identified using DNA analysis by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, according to a news release.
Capt. Nando A. Cavalieri, 24, born in Eveleth, was assigned to the 324th Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in the European theater. On Feb. 3, 1945, he was serving as a bombardier on a flying mission over Berlin. His B-17G Flying Fortress bomber was struck by anti-aircraft fire and broke into two places in the air and crashed.
Cavalieri's plane was one of 21 bombers lost in the mission. German forces reportedly recovered his body and ID tags after the crash and buried him in Doberitz, Germany, on Feb. 7, 1945.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. They recovered all the American remains buried in Doberitz, but were unable to identify Cavalieri and he was declared non-recoverable Oct. 23, 1951.
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The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency completed a comprehensive research project that focused on eight sets of unknown remains recovered from Doberitz between 2016 and 2018, the news release said. One set was considered a strong candidate for Cavalieri. The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery in Belgium, were disinterred in June 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for examination and identification.
Scientists used anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence to identify the remains. They also worked with the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System to use mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome DNA to make the match.
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Cavalieri's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on May 5. Graveside services will be performed by Everly-Wheatley Funerals and Cremation, Alexandria, preceding the interment.
This story was updated at 12:14 p.m. April 25 with the details about burial at Arlington National Cemetery. It was originally posted at 11 p.m. Dec. 22.
