The remains of an Air Force major killed during the Vietnam War have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday.

Air Force Maj. Curtis Daniel Miller of Palacios, Texas, will be buried on March 29 in the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, according to a Defense Department news release.

Miller was part of a 14-man air crew, all of which are now accounted for. Remains that could not be individually identified are included in a group that will be buried together in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., the release said.

The crew was aboard an AC-130A Spectre gunship that took off from an air base in Thailand on March 29, 1972, on an armed reconnaissance mission over Laos, the release said. The airplane was struck by an enemy surface-to-air missile and crashed.

In 1986, the Hawaii-based Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command excavated the crash site and recovered human remains and other evidence, the release said. Between 2005 and 2006, teams resurveyed the crash site and excavated it twice, finding more remains, personal effects and crew-related equipment.

Migrated