martin b-26 marauder (44-34682)

MARTIN B-26B MARAUDER (REGISTRATION: 44-34682)
On Sept. 2, 1963, Purcell, McKinney and Cruz were flying aboard a B-26B aircraft on an air cover mission over Kontum Province, Vietnam. They were observed by their relief aircraft, but never returned to Da Nang Air Base. An extensive search and rescue effort failed to locate the missing aircraft.

In 1992, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) repatriated to the United States human remains and identification media for all three crew members. The remains of these three servicemen were identified individually, and are also part of a group remains identification. Mitochondrial DNA testing was used to confirm the three identifications.