The remains of a Wichita Falls man killed in World War II have been identified after 78 years.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Jack K. Wood, 24, was accounted for June 4, according to a press release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. According to the agency, in the summer of 1943 Wood was assigned to the 344th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. On August 1st, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Wood was serving as a navigator crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation Tidal Wave, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania, the agency said. His remains were not identified following mission. Remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknows in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
A Times Record News article from December 2, quoted a letter Wood had sent to his sister in Wichita Falls just before the fatal mission: "I am voluntarily going to do an extremely hazardous undertaking," he wrote. "Even now I am qualified to be relieved without further fighting, but I don't think I've done enough."
Wood's plane, the "Vulgar Virgin" was leading the mission with just five planes remaining in the formation and encountered heavy ground fire before it went down, killing all nine crewmen aboard.
To identify Wood's remains, scientists form DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome DNA, and autosomal DNA analysis,' the release said.
Wood's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at 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.
Wood was the son of Leslie Monroe Wood and Ora M. Farrar. He was born in Lawton, Oklahoma but the family moved to Wichita Falls when Wood was two. He lived with his parents and four siblings in a home on Old Burk Road and was employed at a department store before joining the war effort.
Graveside service will be on October 23, 2021 at the Woodberry-Forest Cemetery, Madill, Oklahoma. Joe Patterson will officiate the service. Services will be under the direction of Watts Funeral Home, Madill, Oklahoma.
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View Memorial Site HERE.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Jack K. Wood, 24, was accounted for June 4, according to a press release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. According to the agency, in the summer of 1943 Wood was assigned to the 344th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. On August 1st, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Wood was serving as a navigator crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation Tidal Wave, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania, the agency said. His remains were not identified following mission. Remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknows in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
A Times Record News article from December 2, quoted a letter Wood had sent to his sister in Wichita Falls just before the fatal mission: "I am voluntarily going to do an extremely hazardous undertaking," he wrote. "Even now I am qualified to be relieved without further fighting, but I don't think I've done enough."
Wood's plane, the "Vulgar Virgin" was leading the mission with just five planes remaining in the formation and encountered heavy ground fire before it went down, killing all nine crewmen aboard.
To identify Wood's remains, scientists form DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome DNA, and autosomal DNA analysis,' the release said.
Wood's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at 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.
Wood was the son of Leslie Monroe Wood and Ora M. Farrar. He was born in Lawton, Oklahoma but the family moved to Wichita Falls when Wood was two. He lived with his parents and four siblings in a home on Old Burk Road and was employed at a department store before joining the war effort.
Graveside service will be on October 23, 2021 at the Woodberry-Forest Cemetery, Madill, Oklahoma. Joe Patterson will officiate the service. Services will be under the direction of Watts Funeral Home, Madill, Oklahoma.
~
View Memorial Site HERE.
The remains of a Wichita Falls man killed in World War II have been identified after 78 years.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Jack K. Wood, 24, was accounted for June 4, according to a press release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. According to the agency, in the summer of 1943 Wood was assigned to the 344th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. On August 1st, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Wood was serving as a navigator crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation Tidal Wave, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania, the agency said. His remains were not identified following mission. Remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknows in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
A Times Record News article from December 2, quoted a letter Wood had sent to his sister in Wichita Falls just before the fatal mission: "I am voluntarily going to do an extremely hazardous undertaking," he wrote. "Even now I am qualified to be relieved without further fighting, but I don't think I've done enough."
Wood's plane, the "Vulgar Virgin" was leading the mission with just five planes remaining in the formation and encountered heavy ground fire before it went down, killing all nine crewmen aboard.
To identify Wood's remains, scientists form DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome DNA, and autosomal DNA analysis,' the release said.
Wood's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at 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.
Wood was the son of Leslie Monroe Wood and Ora M. Farrar. He was born in Lawton, Oklahoma but the family moved to Wichita Falls when Wood was two. He lived with his parents and four siblings in a home on Old Burk Road and was employed at a department store before joining the war effort.
Graveside service will be on October 23, 2021 at the Woodberry-Forest Cemetery, Madill, Oklahoma. Joe Patterson will officiate the service. Services will be under the direction of Watts Funeral Home, Madill, Oklahoma.
~
View Memorial Site HERE.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Jack K. Wood, 24, was accounted for June 4, according to a press release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. According to the agency, in the summer of 1943 Wood was assigned to the 344th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. On August 1st, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Wood was serving as a navigator crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation Tidal Wave, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania, the agency said. His remains were not identified following mission. Remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknows in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
A Times Record News article from December 2, quoted a letter Wood had sent to his sister in Wichita Falls just before the fatal mission: "I am voluntarily going to do an extremely hazardous undertaking," he wrote. "Even now I am qualified to be relieved without further fighting, but I don't think I've done enough."
Wood's plane, the "Vulgar Virgin" was leading the mission with just five planes remaining in the formation and encountered heavy ground fire before it went down, killing all nine crewmen aboard.
To identify Wood's remains, scientists form DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome DNA, and autosomal DNA analysis,' the release said.
Wood's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at 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.
Wood was the son of Leslie Monroe Wood and Ora M. Farrar. He was born in Lawton, Oklahoma but the family moved to Wichita Falls when Wood was two. He lived with his parents and four siblings in a home on Old Burk Road and was employed at a department store before joining the war effort.
Graveside service will be on October 23, 2021 at the Woodberry-Forest Cemetery, Madill, Oklahoma. Joe Patterson will officiate the service. Services will be under the direction of Watts Funeral Home, Madill, Oklahoma.
~
View Memorial Site HERE.
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