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After 53 years, The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on Wednesday, Dec. 4, they had finally found the Teaneck man's remains.
In October 1971, Trudeau, a U.S. Army Warrant Officer was, assigned to the 68th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, the DPAA said. On Oct. 26, Trudeau was serving as the pilot of a CH-47B “Chinook” helicopter when it went down over water in bad weather while flying in Vietnam, the DPAA said.
The remains of four of the 10 soldiers on board were recovered during search and rescue operations following the crash, but Trudeau was not accounted for, the DPAA said.
An unsuccessful recovery attempt was made in 1974 when divers from the Joint Casualty Resolution Center dove on what was believed to be the crash site, the DPAA said. A number of investigation and recovery efforts took place between 1994 and 2021, the DPAA said.
From May to July 2024, a DPAA Underwater Recovery Team excavated an aircraft wreck site which correlated to Trudeau’s crash site, the DPAA said. The team excavated roughly 336 square meters of underwater surface area, which resulted in the recovery of possible remains, possible life support equipment, and various other identification media, the DPAA said. All evidence was collected and turned over to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification, the DPAA said.
To identify Trudeau’s remains, DPAA scientists used anthropological and dental analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence.
Trudeau will be given a burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
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