Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

More than 80 years after his death, the remains of a World War II soldier from Muhlenberg County have been accounted for.

On Thursday – 80 years to the date after he was killed in battle – Army Air Force Tech Sgt. William Luster Leukering's ashes were interred next to his brother’s gravesite at Round Springs Cemetery in Massac County, near farmland that once belonged to his grandparents.

The military has identified a prisoner of war from Kentucky who died in the Philippines during World War II. The remains of Army Pfc. Thomas Franklin Brooks of Mammoth Cave were confirmed in June, 80 years after his death.

The remains of Emil Kapaun, the Catholic priest and Korean War prisoner of war, have been identified, the Pentagon said Friday. Kapaun was given the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2013.