STATEMENT FROM DELEGATION ON BURIAL OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL WENDELL KELLER AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Rick Berg and Senators Kent Conrad and John Hoeven today offered the following statement regarding the burial of Fargo native, Lieutenant Colonel Wendell Keller of the United States Air Force, at Arlington National Cemetery.

Lt. Col. Wendell Keller went missing-in-action while flying an F-4D mission over Laos on March 1, 1969.  His remains, and those of his co-pilot, Captain Mike Meroney, were identified in Laos in April 2011 and returned home this summer.  They will be laid to rest today at Arlington National Cemetery.

“We extend our deepest gratitude to Lieutenant Colonel Wendell Keller for making the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the United States of America,” the delegation said in a joint statement. “We also express our deepest condolences to his wife, Jacqueline, and their two sons, Gregory and Michael.  We hope this burial provides Lieutenant Colonel Keller’s family and friends with the consolation of knowing that their husband, father and friend is now laid to rest alongside his fellow American heroes at Arlington National Cemetery.”

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