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The long quest to figure out what happened to Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher after he was shot down at the start of the first Gulf¹ War has finally been answered. The Pentagon says information from an Iraqi citizen last month led marines to recover Speicher's remains² in the Iraqi desert and those remains have been positively³ identified. Residents in Speicher's hometown of Jacksonville Florida are welcoming the news.

In one way, it was unfortunate and another I think it gives a closure for the family.

Oh, I'm so happy for his family. It's terrible never knowing...I just felt, you know that, so happy for them.

Only hours after his plane was shot down the Pentagon declared he'd been killed. Over the years, critics said the Navy had not done enough to search for him, especially right after the crash. And Speicher's family pressed the military to do more.

In 2002, the Navy changed his status to missing-in-action-captured. Florida Senator Bill Nelson says he's planning to take down the POW/MIA flag he placed outside his office when Speicher went missing.

For those children to be able, now to know and not have to continue to wonder is their father alive, uh, is, is the closure that they needed.

Speicher's family has released a statement saying learning the news of his death has been difficult. But his actions in combat and the search for him will forever remain in their hearts and minds. And President Barack Obama called the news “a reminder⁴ of the selfless service” that led Speicher to make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.