(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A man from far downstate Metropolis, Ill., who was killed during World War II, has now been officially accounted for.
Sgt. William L. Leukering, a radio operator, was 28 years old when his B-17 bomber was struck by German anti-aircraft fire in 1944. Due to the damage on the plane, the pilot ordered the crew to bail out.
Of the 11 crew members on the B-17, six were able to successfully parachute out in time. The other five, including Leukering, were believed to have been on board when the aircraft went down, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
In 1951, after American authorities were unable to positively identify Leukering’s remains, he was declared “non-recoverable.”
It wasn’t until 2012, when a German researcher found what appeared to be an aircraft crash site. An excavation team located possible human remains, and in 2023, DPAA scientists used DNA analysis to positively identify the remains as belonging to Leukering.
Now that his family has now received their full briefing, the DPAA said he will be buried in Round Knob, Ill.
The DPAA wrote that Leukering’s name, which is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Epinal American Cemetery in France, will now have a rosette placed next to it to indicate he has been accounted for.
Included in the DPAA’s release: several photos of Leukering from his days in the service. One of them shows him with his fellow crew members posing in front of their plane; the young man has a hint of a smile.
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