WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney, 21, who was killed during World War II, was accounted for May 15, 2026.
In November 1944, McKinney was a pilot with the 35th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, 14th Air Force. On Nov. 5, he was flying an F5E-2-LO Lightning aircraft on a reconnaissance mission from Yunnanyi, China, to targets in Thailand and Burma when he failed to return from the mission. American Graves Registration Service personnel searched along his flight path up to the Chinese-Thai border, but found no evidence of a crash. His remains were not accounted for after the war.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of McKinney'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 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.
McKinney’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001nzRIUEA2.