WWII veteran killed in Germany returns home to California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After 80 years, a World War II sergeant killed in Germany has returned home to California.

On Thursday, community members lined the roads to honor U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport to a burial home in Riverside, California.

Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany, according to Honoring Our Fallen, an organization that provides support to families of fallen military and first responders.

One of the surviving crewmembers saw the plane was on fire, then fell in a steep dive before exploding on the ground. After the crash, German troops buried the remains of one soldier at a local cemetery, while the other six crewmembers, including Banta, were unaccounted for.

Banta was married and had four sisters and a brother. He joined the military because of his older brother Floyd Jack Banta, who searched for Donald Banta his whole life but passed away before he was found.

Donald Banta’s niece was present at the planeside honors ceremony at the Ontario airport coordinated by Honoring Our Fallen.

The remains from the plane crash were initially recovered in 1952, but they could not be identified at the time and were buried in Belgium. Banta was accounted for Sept. 26, 2023, following efforts by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency within the U.S. Department of Defense and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.