WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Russell O. Chitwood, 27, of Hot Springs, Arkansas, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 4, 2025.
Chitwood's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In the winter of 1943, Chitwood was assigned to the 359th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force, in England. On January 3, while on a bombing mission to Saint-Nazaire, France, his B-17F aircraft was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and then attacked by German fighter planes. Some of the crew bailed out into the Bay of Biscay, France, while the pilot managed to ditch the bomber successfully in the water. Of the ten crewmembers, three were taken prisoner, one was witnessed to die in the water, and the remaining six were presumed dead. Chitwood’s remains were not accounted for after the war.
In 1946 and 1947, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) exhumed graves, which purportedly held the remains of American airmen, from local cemeteries along the coast of the Bay of Biscay. One of those graves had a marker inscribed with “American serviceman Russel Thitwood.” The AGRC recovery team transferred the remains to U.S. Military Cemetery Champigneul, France, where they were designated X-330 Champigneul (X-330). On Oct. 19, 1948, the AGRC determined there was insufficient evidence to identity X-330 and recommended the remains be declared unidentifiable. On May 3, 1949, the AGRC interred X-330 in what is known today as Epinal American Cemetery in France.
In August 2023, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission officials exhumed X-330 from Epinal American Cemetery and transported them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis
To identify Chitwood’s remains, DPAA scientists conducted an anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial, Y-chromosome, and autosomal DNA analysis.
Chitwood’s name is recorded on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Chitwood will be buried in Royal, Arkansas on a date yet to be determined.
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.
Read Chitwood's initial ID announcement here: Chitwood.