WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John H. Danneker, 19, killed during World War II, was accounted for Dec. 10, 2024.
In June 1944, Danneker was assigned to the 565th Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater. On June 20, Danneker, the left waist gunner onboard a B-24J “Liberator” bomber, went missing in action when his plane crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark after colliding with another B-24 in the same formation. The pilot and co-pilot of Danneker’s aircraft were able to bail out and survived, but all evidence points to the rest of the crew being killed in the crash. The U.S. War Department issued a Finding of Death for Danneker on June 21, 1945.
In early 1948, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, investigated the crash, but were unable to find any of the missing crewmen. Over the next couple of years, the AGRC also assessed unidentified remains that washed ashore in the area where Danneker’s aircraft crashed, but were not able to identify any of the crew. Danneker was declared non-recoverable on May 12, 1950.
This is an initial ID Announcement. The complete accounting of Danneker’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.
Danneker’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BT2SEAW.