After 80 years, an American serviceman missing in action in World War II has been identified and repatriated home.
Franklin P. Hall of Leesburg, Florida was assigned as a left waist gunner on a B-24D Liberator which bore the name "Queen Marlene." According to records, "his plane was attacked by German air forces near Équennes-Éramecourt in France on Jan. 21, 1944" and Hall was listed as missing in action.
Soon after the Luftwaffe shot down the Queen Marlene, Nazi forces recovered nine bodies from the crash and buried them in a French cemetery in Poix-de-Picardie. However, Hall's remains were never formally identified after the war.
In 1951, Hall was listed as non-recoverable as military researchers were unable to positively identify his remains. Decades later, the DPAA identified remains at the Normandy American Cemetery as potentially belonging to Hall and had them disinterred for analysis. Scientists using DNA evidence confirmed that the remains belonged to Hall.
Hall's remains are now being transported back to Leesburg, Florida for burial at a future date yet to be determined.
