Washington –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan W. Knepper, 27, of Nez Perce County, Idaho, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 10, 2023.
In summer 1943, Knepper was a pilot with the 49th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of World War II. On July 10, Knepper departed El Bathan Airfield, Tunisia, in his P-38 “Lightning” as one of many fighter waves assigned to attack enemy forces near Caltagirone, Italy, and neutralize Axis air powers. In attempts to obstruct Axis movements from the island’s interior toward the beach where Allied forces were landing, U.S. air forces were dispatched every 30 minutes throughout the day. Knepper’s squadron encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire, and another pilot witnessed Knepper’s aircraft veer suddenly skyward before rolling halfway over and plummeting to the ground. There was no witness of any deployed parachute following the crash, and it was believed he was still in the plane when it crashed. Knepper’s remains were not recovered, and he was subsequently declared missing in action.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.