WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. William E. Archer, Jr., 22, killed during World War II, was accounted for Feb. 4, 2026.
In the fall of 1944, Archer served with the 15th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. On Oct. 31, he piloted an F-5B reconnaissance aircraft, which is the same as a P-38 fighter whose weapons were replaced with reconnaissance gear, on a mission over southern Yugoslavia. After taking off, Archer made a routine call to local fighter sector control, but then was never heard from again. There are no reports of his capture or death, and a crash site associated with Archer or his plane was never found. A presumptive finding of death was issued Nov. 1, 1945.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Archer's case will be published once his family receives a full briefing.
For additional information on the War Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while service their country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, www.linkedin.com/company/dodpaa, www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or www.x.com/dodpaa.
Archer’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001nzR9tEAE.