It took nearly 80 years, but Staff. Sgt. Franklin P. Hall is finally coming home to Leesburg.
The U.S. Army Airforce gunner was killed in 1944 while flying a combat bombing mission over France. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) just announced that his remains were identified in July by scientists who used anthropological and DNA analysis.
The agency’s press release stated that Hall – 21 at the time of his death — was assigned to the 66th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in the European Theater in January 1944.
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 quickly found the crash site and recovered nine sets of remains, which were then interred them in the French cemetery at Poix-de-Picardie,” according to officials.
But Hall’s remains were never found and after the war he was declared “non-recoverable” in March, 1951.
That, however, was not the end of the search for Staff Sgt. Hall.
Research continued for soldiers missing from combat in the Équennes-Éramecourt area. Eventually, this led to the discovery of two sets of remains buried in Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site, the press release stated.
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.
The DPAA has accounted for 1,543 missing WWII soldiers since beginning its work in 1973. Government figures show that 72,135 WWII soldiers are still missing.
Defense Department officials stated that Hall will eventually be buried in Leesburg, but no date has been announced.