Missing Vietnam Vet Finally Laid to Rest

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A U.S. Navy pilot whose fighter plane went down over Laos in 1965 has finally been laid to rest in Minnesota.

The family of William Swanson of Zimmerman gathered at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis Monday where the Vietnam veteran was buried with a 21-gun salute.

Swanson was 27 when the Skyraider aircraft he was piloting crashed during an armed reconnaissance mission in April of 1965. Last week, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Swanson's remains had been identified years after local villagers led investigators to the area where his plane went down.

Swanson's brother, Bob, says after 47 years, it's a day he never expected would occur.

Fighter jets flew over the cemetery in a missing man formation as Swanson was laid to rest.