Flags to Fly at Half-Staff on May 15 Honoring Omaha Native Robert Keuchel, Killed in WWII

NEBRASKA, May 12 - CONTACT:

Laura Strimple, (402) 580-9495

Flags to Fly at Half-Staff on May 15 Honoring Omaha Native Robert Keuchel, Killed in WWII

LINCOLN, NE – Today, Governor Jim Pillen announced that all U.S. and Nebraska flags are to be flown at half-staff on Friday, May 15, to honor WWII airman Robert A. Keuchel. The remains of Staff Sergeant Keuchel were found and ultimately identified last year by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Born in Omaha in 1923, Keuchel was killed on March 22, 1945. He and fellow crewmembers were aboard a B-17G Flying Fortress conducting a bombing run. While flying over Poland, the aircraft was hit and damaged during an enemy attack, and the airmen were forced to bail out. Of 10 crew members, eight were killed due to enemy fire while they were attempting to parachute to the ground. Keuchel was among them.

Attempts to find his remains were unsuccessful until a series of excavations were conducted at the crash site between 2019 and 2024. In July 2025 the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that his remains had been identified.

An interment will take place at Omaha National Cemetery at 10 a.m. on May 15. Flags should be flown until sunset that day.