WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. George F. Wilson, Jr., 22, of Bountiful, Utah, killed during World War II, was accounted for Nov. 21, 2024.
Wilson’s family recently received their full briefing on is identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
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.
In July 2018, a member of Wilson’s family provided DPAA with new information about a potential crash site for Wilson’s aircraft. One of Wilson’s family then traveled to Monchy-Cayeux and met three witnesses who remembered the crash. In 2019, a DPAA investigation team visited Monchy-Cayeux and discovered a concentration of wreckage consistent with a B-17 at the site, which they then recommended for excavation.
From Aug. 6-30, 2021, DPAA partner Colorado State University excavated the site and accessioned all recovered evidence into the DPAA laboratory. They returned to the site for another excavation from July 25 to Aug. 13, 2022, finding additional evidence which was also accessioned into the DPAA laboratory.
To identify Wilson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome DNA, and autosomal DNA analysis.
Wilson’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery, in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Wilson will be buried in Bountiful, Utah, in July 2025.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
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.
Read Wilson’s initial ID announcement here: Wilson.