80 years later, North Dakota family to lay WWII hero to rest

GRAND FORKS — Sgt. Irvin Ellingson was just 25. He was from Dahlen, N.D., about 55 miles northwest of Grand Forks.

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday, Dec. 9, that Ellingson's remains have been officially identified, 80 years after his plane was shot down over Tokyo in World War II.

His family had been notified earlier this year that remains found were identified as Ellingson's, and on Tuesday, the Pentagon confirmed that news of the positive identification, after 80 years of waiting.

Ellingson was a radar observer and was on board a B-29 "Superfortress" bomber in the spring 1945. On April 14, his plane was shot down. Ellingson survived the crash after parachuting out but was taken prisoner of war.

In a tragic turn of events, he died weeks later in a prison fire in Tokyo.

Three years