Washington, D.C. – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on November 27th that Staff Sgt. Franklin P. Hall, a 21-year-old serviceman from Leesburg, Florida, has been accounted for.
Hall was listed as missing in action during World War II.
Staff Sgt. Hall was a member of the 66th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), serving in the European Theater. Tragically, his life was cut short on January 21, 1944, when, as a left waist gunner on the B-24D Liberator Queen Marlene, he was killed during an aerial engagement with German forces near Équennes-Éramecourt, France. In the aftermath of the crash, German troops located and interred nine sets of remains in a local French cemetery at Poix-de-Picardie. Regrettably, Hall’s remains were not identified among those recovered post-war.
Efforts to locate Hall began in earnest in 1945, spearheaded by the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), tasked with finding and repatriating fallen American soldiers in Europe. Despite extensive searches in and around Équennes-Éramecourt, no conclusive evidence surfaced regarding Hall’s whereabouts. The lack of leads eventually led to his status of missing in action being changed to ‘non-recoverable’ on March 1, 1951.
A breakthrough came when DPAA historians, committed to ongoing research into missing soldiers in the Équennes-Éramecourt area, discovered that remains marked as X-391 St. Andre and X-393 St. Andre in the Normandy American Cemetery, managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission, could potentially be linked to Hall. These remains were exhumed in April 2018 and transported to the DPAA Laboratory for detailed examination. There, it was ascertained that the remains of X-393 were indeed those of Staff Sgt. Hall.
The identification process involved meticulous anthropological analysis by DPAA scientists. Additionally, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System contributed through mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis, techniques that have become vital in forensic identification.
Prior to this discovery, Hall’s name was inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery in France, a solemn tribute to those who never returned from the war. In recognition of his identification, a rosette will be placed next to his name, symbolizing that he is no longer missing.
Plans are pending for Staff Sgt. Hall’s final interment in his hometown of Leesburg, Florida, with the date yet to be confirmed.
The announcement serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made during World War II and the ongoing commitment to bringing closure to families of the fallen. For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
