On a sunny, brisk November morning, Election Day no less, First Lt. Gerald J. Melofchik completed a police-escorted trek to his final resting place in Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 81 years after he was killed in combat in World War II.

Melofchik was just 24 years old when the B-17 G Flying Fortress he was piloting was struck by anti-aircraft fire, collided with another plane and crashed near Néron, France, on Aug. 1, 1944.

Melofchik's parents and his three siblings have all passed in the 81 years since his death, but on this Tuesday morning, many of the 18 nieces and nephews he never got to meet joined to celebrate his bravery, sacrifice and return home.

"We're all sad that our parents weren't alive to see it," nephew Jeffrey Melofchik said. "But

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