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Funeral planned for Michigan soldier, decades after death

Posted at 1:37 PM, Oct 01, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-01 13:37:49-04

IRONWOOD, Mich. (AP) — The remains of a Michigan soldier will be interred this weekend in an Upper Peninsula cemetery, 77 years after he died in a World War II prisoner camp.

New technologies helped the Army in July identify the remains of Walter Kellett, who lived in Ironwood when he joined the Army in 1940. He was assigned to the Army Air Corps in the Philippines.

Kellett’s obituary says he was captured by the Japanese and forced to march more than 60 miles as part of the Bataan death march. Authorities believe he died from malaria and dysentery in 1942. Kellett was 22 years old.

A memorial service will be held Saturday at the McKevitt-Patrick Funeral Home in Ironwood, followed by interment with military honors at Riverside Cemetery.