A Portland World War II hero’s plane parts have been discovered and gifted to his family 80 years after he crashed in Belgium. The family opened the boxes containing the parts Saturday.
According to CBS 13, Major Charles Loring Jr. was shot down by German forces in 1944. He survived the crash but was taken as a prisoner of war. Loring survived World War II but died in the Korean war when he sacrificed himself by deliberately crashing his plane into enemy gun positions.
Pieces of the plane were also donated to the Loring Air Museum. Historians identified the plane as Loring’s based on the serial number found on the plane parts.
The box included his seat buckle, which Loring’s family says is the last thing he would have touched before the crash.
Loring received the medal of honor posthumously for his sacrifice and the Loring Air Force Base was named after him.
