Remains of WWII airman from Central Florida accounted for nearly 80 years later

LEESBURG, Fla. — The remains of a U.S. Army Air Force gunner from Central Florida have been accounted for nearly 80 years after he was shot down over France in World War II, military officials announced Monday.

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Staff Sgt. Franklin P. Hall, of Leesburg, was assigned to the 66th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in the European Theater in January of 1944.

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According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), Hall was on board the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber “Queen Marlene” as a left waist gunner on Jan. 21, 1944 when the plane was attacked by German air forces near Equennes-Eramecourt, France.

Hall, then just 21-years-old, was killed in action.

German forces found the crash site and recovered nine sets of remains, which were interred in the French cemetery at Poix-de-Picardie.

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Hall’s remains were not accounted for after the war and he was declared non-recoverable in March of 1951.

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Remains of WWII airman from Central Florida accounted for nearly 80 years later Staff Sgt. Franklin P. Hall, 21, of Leesburg, was assigned to the 66th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in the European Theater in January of 1944.

According to the Department of Defense, ongoing research into soldiers missing from the area where Hall was shot down eventually led to the discovery of two sets of unidentified remains that were buried in the Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site.

In April of 2018, the remains were transferred to a DPAA laboratory for DNA analysis and on July 13, 2023, they determined that one set of remains belonged to Hall.

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Hall’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery in 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 be buried in Leesburg at a date still to be determined. To see his Department of Defense personnel profile, click here.

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