Remains of a WWII heavy bomber gunner identified nearly 80 years after his death

2025-01-13 04:32:46 source:lotradecoin trading tutorial videos category:Stocks

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Army Air Force gunner’s remains have been accounted for nearly eight decades after the heavy bomber he was flying in was shot down over France during World War II, military officials said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Franklin P. Hall, 21, of Leesburg, Florida, was identified in July by scientists who used anthropological and DNA analysis, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release.

Hall was assigned to the 66th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in the European Theater in January 1944, officials said. The airman was the left waist gunner on a B-24D Liberator called “Queen Marlene” when it was attacked by German air forces near Équennes-Éramecourt, France. German forces found the crash site and recovered nine sets of remains, which were interred in the French cemetery at Poix-de-Picardie. Hall’s remains were not accounted for after the war, and he was declared non-recoverable in 1951.

Ongoing research into soldiers missing from combat around Équennes-Éramecourt eventually led to the discovery of two sets of remains buried in Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site. The remains were disinterred in 2018 and transferred to the DPAA laboratory, where one set was identified as Hall.

Hall’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Hall will eventually be buried in Leesburg, Florida, though officials didn’t say when.

More:Stocks

Recommend

US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rise

The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week and

Russia hosts the Taliban for talks on regional threats and says it will keep funding Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Moscow will keep helping Afghanistan on its own and through the U.N. food agency, R

Pope Francis creates 21 new cardinals who will help him to reform the church and cement his legacy

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals at a ritual-filled ceremony Saturday, incl