WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. George F. Wilson, Jr., 22, killed during World War II, was accounted for Nov. 21, 2024.
In July 1944, Wilson was assigned to the 601st Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater. On July 8, Wilson, the pilot of a B-17G “Flying Fortress” bomber, was killed when his aircraft crashed near Monchy-Cayeux, France, after being hit by antiaircraft fire. Surviving crew members reported Wilson had been hit by flak and was still on board when the aircraft crashed.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater. They received information from several of Wilson’s crew members detailing the crash, but there is no evidence the crash site was ever visited. No recovered Unknowns were ever associated with Wilson, and he was declared non-recoverable in 1951.
This is an initial ID Announcement. The complete accounting of Wilson’s case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, https://www.linkedin.com/company/dodpaa,
https://www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or https://x.com/dodpaa.
Wilson’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001Fn2cBEAR.