Remains of WWII Airman welcomed home, will be buried in San Jose

Remains of WWII Airman welcomed home, will be buried in San Jose

In 2019, Danish divers found the WWII-era wreckage and recovered his remains.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The remains of a missing World War II Airman were escorted home to San Jose this afternoon. His remains were discovered during an underwater excavation in Denmark where his plane was thought to have gone down.  

"There’s really a sense of closure I never expected I’d ever have in my life," said Dale Bergman, McCollum's nephew. 

Second Lt. Robert T. McCollum is finally home. At San Jose Mineta International Airport, McCollum received a hero’s welcome, a procession that included veterans, police and firefighters honoring his return. 

His nephew, Dale Bergman, is a Vietnam War veteran and came from Colorado for the ceremony held at Oak Hill Funeral Home.

"Then to have them call us and tell us we have found his intact remains 80 years later, surviving a crash of his bomber, it’s too much to believe, but it’s real," said Bergman. 

What we know:

McCollum died on June 20, 1944, after his bomber plane collided with another bomber while flying over the Baltic Sea near Langeland Island, Denmark, according to the DPAA or the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. 

In 2019, Danish divers found the WWII-era wreckage and recovered his remains. Born in Ohio, McCollum is being laid to rest in San Jose near his only sister’s children.

"She learned he was, not when I was not even a month old, when she got the telegram, that he would not be recoverable. His plane went down when he was 22 years old. So, I never knew Robert. I just know the stories my mom told and my grandparents," said Sandy Bellou, McCollum's niece.

The Patriot Guard Riders of Northern California participated in McCollum’s homecoming. The group organizes repatriation missions like the one McCollum received on Thursday, helping families find closure.

"Not all of us are vets, and you don’t have to be in PGR, but we do it to respect the family, for the fallen. That’s why we call him a brother. I’ve never met him, but he’s a brother to me," said Steve Repetto, with Patriot Guard Riders. 

"When I was looking at his flight missions, he essentially flew over my hometown in the Netherlands and so that just warms the heart," said Henk Zantman, PGR assistant state captain.

What's next:

The media was not allowed inside Oak Hill, where the ceremony was held. His family says they are having a private ceremony for McCollum next Saturday.

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