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World War II vet missing for nearly 80 years will have funeral services on the Coast

Body of Private Andrew Joseph Ladner of Lizana, killed in action during WWII, was finally identified in 2021. He will be sent to Gulfport for a proper burial.
Body of Private Andrew Joseph Ladner of Lizana, killed in action during WWII, was finally identified in 2021. He will be sent to Gulfport for a proper burial. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

The body of a Mississippi soldier who was identified some eight decades after his death in World War II will be buried on the Coast.

Private Andrew Ladner will be buried in Gulfport on April 9, Riemann Family Funeral Homes said in a press release.

Ladner, originally from Lizana, was killed in what is now Papua New Guinea in 1942. He was 30.

He was considered missing in action (MIA) until 2021, when scientists at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified his remains.

There will be a public visitation from 10 to 11 a.m. at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Long Beach, followed by a mass.

After the service, Ladner’s body will be buried at Wolf River Cemetery in Gulfport.

Ladner’s body will be transported from a nearby airport on either April 6 or April 7. The Army Honor Guard will accompany the body from the airport to the Riemann Family Funeral Home in Gulfport.

GM
Gautama Mehta
Sun Herald
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