Families prepare to honor 25 service members lost on D-Day

After decades of uncertainty, families are preparing to honor 25 U.S. service members lost during the D-Day landings with a full-honors burial in Omaha on May 7.

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Twenty-five U.S. service members lost during the D-Day landings are set to be buried with full honors. The burial is scheduled for Thursday, May 7.The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said the group was officially accounted for on Aug. 13, 2025. The service members were killed on June 6, 1944, during the assault on Omaha Beach in Normandy after Landing Craft Infantry 92 was destroyed.DPAA said scientists exhumed remains previously buried as Unknowns at the Normandy American Cemetery in 2021. Through historical research and anthropological analysis, officials linked the remains to the landing craft.Because the remains were commingled, individual identification was not possible for all of them. DPAA said 16 service members were accounted for as part of the group, and the group accounting reflects their shared sacrifice.Dr. Carrie Brown, a supervisory forensic anthropologist and laboratory manager at the DPAA laboratory on Offutt Air Force Base, said the agency is in Omaha to brief families identified from the battle of D-Day during World War II.”I don’t think there’s any more rewarding work that I can do with the degree that I have,” Brown said.For relatives, the accounting has brought both relief and emotion. Jeff Green said he is there for his grandfather, who served as an engineer.”When I was first contacted, it was very overwhelming. Very emotional,” Green said.Green said some of what he was told did not register at first and he had to call back the next day with questions. He said his family had been waiting a long time for answers and that he wished his father had lived to see the moment.”It was a dream of his to see this,” Green said.Green said it would have been nice to have an individual identification, but he found comfort in knowing his grandfather will be laid to rest with the men he served beside.”The thought that he’s with his buddies, when they passed, when he’s been with them all this time, they came home together and they’re going to be put to rest together, that makes me feel really good,” he said.The service members are set to be interred with full honors at Omaha National Cemetery.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |

OMAHA, Neb. —

Twenty-five U.S. service members lost during the D-Day landings are set to be buried with full honors. The burial is scheduled for Thursday, May 7.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said the group was officially accounted for on Aug. 13, 2025. The service members were killed on June 6, 1944, during the assault on Omaha Beach in Normandy after Landing Craft Infantry 92 was destroyed.

DPAA said scientists exhumed remains previously buried as Unknowns at the Normandy American Cemetery in 2021. Through historical research and anthropological analysis, officials linked the remains to the landing craft.

Because the remains were commingled, individual identification was not possible for all of them. DPAA said 16 service members were accounted for as part of the group, and the group accounting reflects their shared sacrifice.

Dr. Carrie Brown, a supervisory forensic anthropologist and laboratory manager at the DPAA laboratory on Offutt Air Force Base, said the agency is in Omaha to brief families identified from the battle of D-Day during World War II.

“I don’t think there’s any more rewarding work that I can do with the degree that I have,” Brown said.

For relatives, the accounting has brought both relief and emotion. Jeff Green said he is there for his grandfather, who served as an engineer.

“When I was first contacted, it was very overwhelming. Very emotional,” Green said.

Green said some of what he was told did not register at first and he had to call back the next day with questions. He said his family had been waiting a long time for answers and that he wished his father had lived to see the moment.

“It was a dream of his to see this,” Green said.

Green said it would have been nice to have an individual identification, but he found comfort in knowing his grandfather will be laid to rest with the men he served beside.

“The thought that he’s with his buddies, when they passed, when he’s been with them all this time, they came home together and they’re going to be put to rest together, that makes me feel really good,” he said.

The service members are set to be interred with full honors at Omaha National Cemetery.