
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command undertook extensive recovery operations. All American remains from Bolovan Cemetery were exhumed for identification, and the unknowns were reinterred at the American Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium. For decades, Lower’s fate remained a mystery, his name etched alongside hundreds of others on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery in Impruneta, Italy—a silent testament to a generation of Americans who paid the ultimate price.
In 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) renewed efforts to identify airmen lost during Operation Tidal Wave. Fifteen sets of remains were exhumed and subjected to the latest forensic and DNA analysis. Through painstaking investigation, researchers were able to confirm that one set of remains belonged to Technical Sergeant Max W. Lower, finally bringing closure to a story that had spanned more than three-quarters of a century.
On October 9, 2019, DPAA officially announced that Sergeant Lower had been accounted for. His name was removed from the list of the missing, and a rosette was placed next to his name on the Tablets of the Missing, signifying that this long-lost hero had finally returned home.
The emotional journey culminated on November 21, 2019, when the casket bearing Sergeant Lower’s remains arrived at Salt Lake City International Airport. A military honor guard welcomed him back, standing in solemn respect as the nation honored a hero whose sacrifice had long remained in the shadows of history.