Make wishtv.com your home page

WWII soldier finally laid to rest in Rhode Island after 74 years lost at sea

WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) – It took 74 years, but one Rhode Island World War II soldier is finally being laid to rest at home.

Army Capt. Elwood J. Euart of Pawtucket had been previously lost and unaccounted-for since October of 1942.

Three nephews who never had the opportunity to know Euart met the casket along with a full military ceremony, as their uncle’s remains arrived on the T.F. Green tarmac Saturday morning.

The nephews heard about their uncle through heroic stories and pictures that their mother and grandmother shared with them though. Euart met his fate just aftersaving six men on the sinking Coolidge, a cruise liner converted troop transport vessel, with a pair of mates.

Euart went down with the Coolidge.

“They say no one gets left behind, and the army has done that. He’s coming back to where he should be,” said Paul Vallee, one of Euart’s nephews.

The wake for Captain Euart will be on Tuesday, and he will be laid to rest next to his parents Wednesday.