Remains of WWII airman identified, coming home to Arkansas and 95-year-old brother
CONWAY, Ark. — It’s been almost 80 years since a 23-year-old World War II airman from Little Rock was killed and declared missing in action. Now, the family of U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lieutenant Kenyon Brindley said he’s finally coming home.
No one has been waiting longer for the moment than Kenyon’s younger brother Joe. Joe Brindley is 95 years old and the last time he saw his brother he was 14.
“I was very proud of him,” Brindley said. “At the same time, I was a little bit frightened knowing he was going to have to go to war.”
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2nd Lieutenant Kenyon Brindley was an Air Force bombardier onboard a B-24-J Liberator, part of The Mighty Eighth special division commanded by Jimmy Stewart.
Over Gotha, Germany on Feb. 24, 1944, Kenyon was flying his 13th mission. During its successful completion, his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire. One of three surviving crewmembers who jumped to safety reported the plane was on fire and in a steep dive, before eventually exploding on the ground.
Following the crash, German troops recovered the remains of six crewmembers from the ball turret gunner, burying them in a local cemetery. In 1952, those remains, designated Unknown X-9093, X-9094, and X-9095, were moved to Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. All Kenyon’s family knew was that the military could not find him for almost eight decades.
“After all those years we never really thought it was going to happen,” Brindley said. “You know because you just almost gave up.”
But in 2021, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System exhumed the airmen. With the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the scientists used anthropological and mitochondrial DNA from one of Kenyon’s living nieces to finally identify him.
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Brindley was accounted for Sep. 21, 2023, after his remains were identified using anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis. His name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium, along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
“We thank you so much for everything that you’ve done to help locate the bodies, the missing men,” Joe said.
Kenyon and Joe wrote to each other every few weeks the whole time Kenyon was training and overseas. Joe followed his brother’s footsteps joining the Air Force and even named his son Kenyon. His grandson has Kenyon as his middle name.
Reading Kenyon’s letters over and over again for the majority of his life, the words have always stuck with Joe. He remembers Kenyon always saying he’ll be fine, everything is going to work out, and he is going to be able to come home.
Now, those words have new meaning. The effort to identify Kenyon now concluded after almost a century has restored his family’s hope. Joe hopes the story will do the same for those who still have loved ones missing.
“Don’t give up. Just continue to believe that one of these days they will find your relative,” Joe said.
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Kenyon Brindley returns to Arkansas with a military escort on Friday, Dec. 15.
On Monday, Dec. 18, public visitation for his remembrance will start at Roller McNutt Funeral Home from 10 a.m. to noon followed by a public funeral service. The burial will be private.
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