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WWII Pilot Returns Home to Illinois

2nd Lt. Charles ``Butch'' Moritz
2nd Lt. Charles ``Butch'' Moritz

The remains of a World War II pilot killed in a midair collision during training over England will finally be laid to rest in his native southern Illinois.
The remains of Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Charles ``Butch'' Moritz are to be interred Saturday in his hometown of Effingham.  That'll be nine days after the remains were returned to the U.S. Moritz was a member of the 496th fighter group stationed in England in June 1944 when his P-51-C Mustang collided in midair with another U.S. plane over Lincolnshire, England.  He was 21.  The other pilot parachuted to safety. Last September, members of a private English group that searches for vintage aircraft were scouring the countryside for the plane that collided with Moritz's aircraft when they happened upon his remains.

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