CHANTILLY, Va. — It served Marines in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. For more than half a century, the CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter was a vital part of Marine operations — and on Saturday, the aircraft made its final flight.

“It’s a historic day,” said Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, deputy commandant for Marine Corps aviation, at a ceremony at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C. “We like to say in the Marines, ‘There is no better friend. No worse enemy.'”

A CH-46E, which Marines affectionately refer to as “Phrogs,” sat at the north ramp outside the Boeing Aviation Hangar here on Saturday next to its replacement: the MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.

“The CH-46 has protected combat power, has rescued Marines that were wounded on the battlefield and it has helped in a lot of humanitarian, disaster relief efforts,” Davis said. “We are going to do that and more with MV-22.”

It was a bittersweet day for retired Lt. Col. Bill “Booby” Hatch, who flew the CH-46 during his entire 26-year career with the Marines, including tours in Vietnam.

“I think the best endorsement for the CH-46 as a combat assault helicopter will come from the infantry, the grunts,” Hatch said. “Anytime we got the call, we went. It did not matter what was going on or how much shooting was there. We were going to get the grunts out.”

While the CH-46 represents the past, the Osprey is the future. It goes twice as fast as the CH-46E Sea Knight, and it can transport nearly three times the payload.

“[The] MV-22 is … the most in-demand aviation platform in the entire [Defense Department],” Davis said. “It’s a phenomenal airplane and it’s even better because it has got ‘U.S. Marines’ painted on the side.”

The CH-46 will be loaned to the National Air and Space Museum and remain on display here before being moved to its permanent home, the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Quantico, Virginia.

“It allows American people to connect in a physical sense with our history,” Davis said. “They will not only connect with the machines, but they also get to learn about the incredible people, the incredible Marines and sailors who flew in the airplanes.”

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Photo provided by the Kelder family

WASHINGTON — After 73 years, Pvt. Arthur Kelder, of McHenry, Ill, who died in a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines during the WWII, is finally home.

“I feel like a lot of weight has been lifted off my back,” said Douglas Kelder, Pvt.Kelder’s nephew and primary next-of-kin who went to Hawaii to bring his remains back for internment in a family plot near Chicago. “It’s a bittersweet moment. I’m extremely happy that he’s finally home, but I’m also a little bit frustrated that it took them so long to identify him.”

Kelder’s family has been fighting throughout these years for his return. Douglas Kelder said Arthur Kelder’s parents kept writing letters to the U.S. Army for his remains, but every time they were told that Kelder was “unidentifiable.”

About five years ago, John Eakin, Douglas Kelder’s cousin, got dental records of the grave where Arthur was believed to be buried along with nine other soldiers’ remains in Manila, Philippines.

Douglas Kelder said his father, Herman Kelder Jr., a dentist, put golden inlays on Pvt.Kelder’s teeth prior to his induction into military service, and that his father’s treatment records matched perfectly with the dental records John Eakin got from the government. But the family still didn’t get Pvt.Kelder’s remains back until they filed a lawsuit against the Army.

The challenges to proper identification were many.

First, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Kelder’s remains were commingled along with nine other servicemen in the Philippines who had died in a Japanese POW camp. “Due to the circumstances of the POW deaths and burials, the extensive commingling, and the limited identification technologies of the time, all of the remains could not be individually identified,” the agency said.

Second, the military believed a portion of Kelder’s remains were buried with four other soldiers who were returned to their families in the United States after the war. As a result, the military had to disinter those four soldiers’ remains in order to get all of Kelder’s bones back to his family.

While the challenges were real, Douglas Kelder said the family kept getting letters from the military saying there was not enough evidence to identify Arthur, even though family members felt they had enough evidence to be certain of the location at a cemetery in the Philippines. The final identification was made in the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has been criticized for years for the slow process of recovery and identification of MIAs. Last year, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called for a reorganization of the agency, including developing an initiative to expand public-private partnerships in identifying the unknown.

“This key step will expand how DPAA engages with private organizations and individuals to increase our ability to account for missing,” said Maj. Natasha Waggoner, public affairs deputy at the agency.

The University of Wisconsin Biotechnology Center is one of the POW/MIA agency’s potential civilian partners.Charles Konsitzke, associate director of the center, said there are many possible sites where the Defense Department might not have the time or resources for recovery.

“We are not trying to take over any aspect of the recovery and identification,” Konsitzke said in a telephone interview. “What we are trying to do is to complement the process.”

Currently, there are still 78,000 names listed as missing from WWII in the electronic database provided by the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office.

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ARLINGTON, Va. — After 64 years, Army Sgt. Joseph M. Snock, who went missing in action during the Korean War, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery Monday.

“He was 21 years old when he was wounded, captured and died,” said Kathleen Baker, niece of Sgt. Snock. “He was a son for 21 years; he was a brother for 21 years, but he has been a soldier for 64 years. He needs to be here in Arlington.”

Snock’s identification was finally confirmed through his twin brother John Snock’s DNA, which matched perfectly with that of  Joseph M. Snock, soldier in the U.S. Army.

The Snock brothers – twins — were both in service during the Korean War.“Uncle John actually knew his brother was wounded. He went for help, and when he came back, Uncle Joe was gone,” said Baker.  John Snock survived, dying in 2007. Baker said another soldier, who survived the conflict, said Joseph Snock died during captivity.

The Department of Defense says North Korea gave the U.S. 208 boxes of human remains between 1990 and 1994. They are believed to contain more than 400 U.S. servicemen who fought during the war, including  Joseph Snock. But 7,846 Americans still remain unaccounted for from the Korean conflict.

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