Missing (and Killed In Action during WWII?
WW 2 Soldiers |
December 13, 2008 |
7:29 pm | WW 2 Soldiers Units
Tags: Childhood Friend, Circumstances, Co Pilot, Memorial Plaque, Squadron
Tags: Childhood Friend, Circumstances, Co Pilot, Memorial Plaque, Squadron
I have an 84 year old friend who wants to purchase a memorial plaque for a childhood friend who was killed in action over Italy in 1944. This friend, 2nd Lt. ********, was either the pilot (or perhaps the co-pilot) of a B-24 shot down in 1944. His body was never found.
Lt. ******* was a member of the 15th Army Air Force. I don’t know what Bomb Wing, or Squadron he was in, nor the date he was killed. I have found his name on the National WWII Memorial Site, but other than his name, ID #, and hometown, there is no other information.
Would appreciate any advice on how I could find any more information about his unit, circumstances of death so I can give my friend.
By: james s
About the Author:
BEAUTY
Take what you have and contact the National Archives at the link below. It will take some time in obtaining his record, but it will have most everything you need.
BURGESS
Contact and use their search engine, feeding in the information you have, or use the National Archives.
FELTON
The link below is to the web site for the Defense Department’s Office for Prisoner of War and Missing in Action personnel. Click on “World War Two” and enter the information to retrieve his information from the data base.
BYRON
All WWII missing are commemorated on the Walls of the Missing at the nearest American Battle Monuments Commission Cemetery in the theater where they were lost. Here’s a link to the search function on the ABMC’s website. If you enter the missing man’s name it should give you which Cemetery that is and also which Bomb Group he flew with, and any awards.
You could try to obtain his personnel record from the National Archives. This takes time and many were destroyed in a fire in 1971, though from what I see online these days they may be trying to “reconstruct” them.
One other thing you could do is to try to obtain a copy of his IDPF – Individual Deceased Personnel File. Here’s how:
::wwii::866.html
There were also reports specific to the Army Air Force when planes were lost dealing with the search for bodies, etc. I believe these were MACR – Missing Aircrew Reports. These would also be in the National Archives.