Remains of Somerville airman killed during WWII returned to Massachusetts 80 years later

Boston Globe

2 days ago

Lord and members of his crew were reported missing in action. In 2018, investigators combing through a suspected crash site recovered ossified remains that were later confirmed to be Lord's, according to the Defense Department's POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
A Southwest flight carrying Lord's remains and captained by his great-nephew, Charles Axtell landed at Logan Airport in Boston on Thursday afternoon.
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'I'm not sure if I can put it into words what it means to be flying him home,' his great nephew, Charles Axtell, said by email before the flight. 'It has been a special journey the whole way.'
Lord's remains were also escorted by his great-great niece, Space Force
2nd Lieutenant Katherine Hendl.
Lord's remains were taken to Bedford Funeral Home and will be interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett on June 7, alongside Lord's parents and his sister Ruth, his family said in an
Axtell, who worked on the excavation that recovered Lord's remains, said that returning his great-uncle's remains to his home state represents 'the end of 80 years of torment.'
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'Now we know and we have the ability to give hope to the other 80,000+ MIA's since WW2,' said Axtell, who lives in New Hampshire. " . 'We also are reminding our present day armed forces that we do not quit looking for them! This is closure for our family but I think every veteran and military family member knows in their hearts what it means.'
Lord's family still has letters he wrote while overseas. Axtell said Lord would end his letters writing, 'Remember me to all' and 'Loads of Love.'
'In today's world that makes me smile, knowing that all anyone wants is to be remembered,' Axtell said.
Charles Axtell said his great-uncle, Army Air Forces Staff Sergeant Loring E. Lord, signed his letters home with "remember me to all" and "loads of love."
Charles Axtell
Axtell retired from the Air Force in 2015 and later joined Southwest Airlines.
'We are honored to support Captain Axtell as he transports his great uncle to his final resting place,' Chris Perry, a spokesperson for Southwest, said by email.
Lord was officially accounted for on Sept. 18, 2024, according to
There was no indication that anyone escaped the plane crash, which happened less than two months before victory was declared in Europe on May 8, 1945, the agency said.
An article in the Boston Traveler on Feb. 23, 1946, reported that Lord, a graduate of Somerville High School who worked at Pratt & Whitney, had been listed as missing in action since March 21, 1945, while on his 31st mission. He entered the Army on Oct. 10, 1941, and received the Air Medal, Silver Star, and Purple Heart, the newspaper reported.
Lord's family said he was engaged to be married at the time of his death.
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U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Loring E. Lord of Somerville was killed when his plane was shot down in Germany in March 1945.
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
After the war ended, the American Graves Registration Command began investigating and recovering the remains of missing US service members in the European Theater.
In 1949, investigators visited villages between Velen and Dülmen, including Reken, where they met a former police chief who recalled seeing an American plane crash after one of its wings was shot off, according to the accounting agency. Heinrich Mels reported that the German military secured the crash site and buried several airmen at a local cemetery, the agency said.
The remains were exhumed in April 1945 when US forces occupied the town and were identified as crew members from Lord's aircraft, the agency said. Investigators later located several aircraft parts at the crash scene, but no other remains were located.
Decades later, in 2014, Adolf Hagedorn, a German researcher, reported another possible crash site to the accounting agency. In 2018, after several recovery missions, investigators with the agency located 'identification media' for one of Lord's crew members, as well as ossified remains, during an excavation of the site.
The remains were sent to the agency's laboratory, where scientists were able to identify them as Lord's based on anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence, as well as mitochondrial DNA and mitochondrial genome sequence analysis, according to the agency.
Nick Stoico can be reached at