By Associated Press - Monday, June 11, 2018

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The remains of a young gunner from New Mexico who was killed during World War II will soon be brought home to be reburied at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

The U.S. Department of Defense recently notified the family of Sgt. Alfonso Duran that his remains had been identified.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Duran disappeared over Europe in 1944. He was part of a crew manning a B-24H Liberator that was en route to a bombing run in Germany when it was shot down. Duran was the only one who didn’t bail out.

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Duran’s niece, Patricia Duran, said it wasn’t until a Slovenian journalist and then-U.S. Congressman Christopher Van Hollen Jr. of Maryland stepped in that it was learned Duran was buried in what is now Slovenia.

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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com

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