ALBION, Ill. (AP) – A staff sergeant from Illinois who served in the U.S. Army and was killed during a mission in Vietnam has been laid to rest next to his parents 46 years after his death.

Kenneth Leroy Cunningham was aboard a Mohawk aircraft during a surveillance mission on Oct. 3, 1969, when the plane crashed on a mountaintop near Kon Tum Province. Cunningham, then 21, and the plane’s pilot were declared missing in action.
Cunningham’s remains weren’t found until a few years ago and not positively identified until last month.

The Evansville Courier & Press reports an Albion, Illinois, church was filled to capacity Thursday for Cunningham’s funeral.

Before the service, U.S. Congressman John Shimkus presented the Cunningham family with an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol. The family also received Cunningham’s Purple Heart and Vietnam Service Medal.