Texas WWII veteran identified 80 years after being killed in action
FISHER COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) - A World War II veteran from Roby, Texas, has been identified 80 years after he was killed in action.
Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. Frank C. Ferrel, 31, was officially accounted for January 10, 2023, after his remains were identified through DNA analysis.
Sgt. Ferrel was aboard a B-24 Liberator bomber that was hit by enemy fire in Romania on August 1, 1943.
His remains were buried in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania alongside more than 80 other unidentified veterans.
Attempts to account for these veterans began in 2017.
Sgt. Ferrel will be buried in Sylvester, Texas, at a yet-to-be-determined date.
Read the full press release on Sgt. Ferrel's identification from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency below:
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. Frank C. Ferrel, 31, of Roby, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for Jan. 10, 2023.
In the summer of 1943, Ferrel was assigned to the 328th Bombardment Squadron, 93rd Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator bomber Ferrel was an engineer was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.
To identify Ferrel’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis.. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Ferrel’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Ferrel will be buried in Sylvester, Texas on date yet to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.