Maryland service member who died in WWII but was long unidentified to be buried Saturday

The remains of a Maryland military service member who was unidentified for decades after he was killed at Pearl Harbor during World War II were welcomed home Thursday at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

The remains of U.S. Army Pfc. Owen Norris, of Marriottsville, were formally identified on July 7. Norris will be buried Saturday at West Liberty United Methodist Church Cemetery in Marriottsville.

Norris was 26 when he was killed alongside more than 100 other service members in an explosion and subsequent fires during the West Loch disaster at Pearl Harbor on May 21, 1944.

BWI officials said several family members were on hand, including a nephew, Warren Cooper, who works for a company that provides operational services at the airport.

Earlier this month, another World War II veteran from Maryland was honored and welcomed home at BWI.

U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Walter Bateman served as the pilot of a B-24D Liberator bomber that was shot down on Aug. 16, 1943, during a bombing mission over Foggia, Italy, BWI said in a news release. The mission targeted enemy airfields, and none of the 10-member crew survived.

The remains of Bateman, 22, were identified earlier this year by the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the release said. He was laid to rest this month at Union Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Joppa.