SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Relatives of a World War II veteran who was presumed dead following a 1944 battle in the Netherlands have laid his remains to rest in central Illinois.
Mourners gathered at Springfield’s Camp Butler National Cemetery for Saturday’s funeral for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Aiello.
His remains were exhumed from a Belgian cemetery several years ago and identified with DNA provided by relatives.
Brian Aiello is Aiello’s great-grandnephew. He tells The State Journal-Register the family has “a sense of relief that he is now with his family and comrades here at Camp Butler” 73 years after his death.
Military records show Aiello was 35 when he vanished on Sept. 30, 1944, during a battle near the Waal River bridge at Nijmegen. The military later issued a presumptive finding of death.
