A Montana Airman who was killed in action during World War II will be laid to rest Friday in his hometown of Augusta, Montana. The internment ceremony for United States Army Air Forces 1st Lt. William D. Bernier will be held at the veteran's section of the Augusta Cemetery at 2 p.m.

"The motto of the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command, which handled the recovery, investigation and repatriation of 1st Lt. Bernier's remains, is 'Until they are home,'" said Maj. Gen. Matthew Quinn, Adjutant General for Montana, "This particular case, which involves more than a decade of careful and diligent work to return this Airman, is just one example of the strength of that motto."

Bernier served as bombardier on the 12 man crew of a B-24 Liberator bomber.

His aircraft was shot down on April 10, 1944 near Hansa Bay, Papua New Guinea. Bernier was initially reporting missing, but was later presumed killed in the crash. At the end of the war his remains were determined unrecoverable and he was reported killed in action to his family.

In 2001, the crash site was discovered by a team of the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory. Further investigation identified the aircraft as Bernier's B-24. Human remains were recovered from the site in a series of excavations between 2008 and 2011. Following an analysis of dental records and comparing recovered DNA with that of surviving relatives, in June portions of the remains were identified as Bernier's.

Bernier was born in Augusta in 1915. At his time of death, he had served one year and three months in the Army Air Forces, having joined the service in January 1943. Bernier attended Montana State University and planned to return to Augusta to ranch following the war.

The internment is being conducted in accordance with the wishes of Bernier's surviving next of kin.

Bernier's remains are scheduled to arrive in Montana via Billing's Logan International Airport Wednesday at 9 p.m.

For more information, please contact Lt. Col. Tim Crowe at 406-324-3009.