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U.S. Navy Identifies Remains of WWII Radioman Robert L. Cyr Jr. After 81 Years
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified the remains of U.S. Navy Aviation Radioman 2nd Class Robert L. Cyr Jr., missing since a 1944 plane crash in the South Pacific. Cyr, who enlisted at 17 and flew patrols during World War II, will receive a burial with full military honors in Clearwater, Florida, on Saturday. The identification followed underwater expeditions and DNA analysis.
May 1, 1:53 PM·2m read1 source
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U.S. Navy Aviation Radioman 2nd Class Robert L. Cyr Jr. on November 5, 2025, more than 81 years after his patrol plane crashed during World War II.
Cyr's family recently received a full briefing on the identification process. He will receive a burial with full military honors in Clearwater, Florida, on Saturday. A rosette will be placed next to Cyr's name on the Tablets of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, where it had been recorded since he was listed as missing in action.
Cyr's family is also buried in Clearwater, according to an online obituary. His parents, sister, and nephews died before he could be accounted for, but he is survived by a niece and dozens of more extended relatives. Cyr was awarded the Purple Heart, a Navy Presidential Unit Citation, and the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the obituary states.
The identification came after researchers and divers from Sealark Exploration located and explored the wreck site in July 2022 on behalf of the agency. Further excavations by DPAA partner Cosmos Archaeology occurred in 2024 and 2025. The three expeditions documented the site and recovered possible evidence, including possible human remains.
Possible bone fragments were found at the site. The remains and fragments underwent anthropological study and mitochondrial DNA analysis by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which also examined material and circumstantial evidence. Cyr's case had remained unresolved for decades after the crash.
On January 22, 1944, the 19-year-old Cyr and eight other crew members were aboard a PBY-5 Catalina seaplane that crashed during takeoff near the present-day Republic of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean. Three crew members survived the crash. Four crew members were killed, and their remains were found in the days that followed.
