First Lt. Loren Hintz didn’t exactly disappear without a trace when he died. The P-47 Thunderbolt he was piloting on his 64th and final mission in April 1945 set an Italian farm house ablaze when it was brought down by German machine gun fire. But only a fraction of Hintz’s remains were recovered and buried under a marble cross bearing his name at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence.

Seventy-four years later, some 200 family members and friends will gather Saturday at the cemetery to bury the last of Hintz’s remains and effects. His great-grandchildren will lay a laurel wreath at his grave. Hintz, a pilot with the 86th Fighter Squadron, 79th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force, was listed as missing in action for weeks.