Suggested edit from FAG Contributor: usafdo (48612389)
*** ACCOUNTED FOR *** PRESS RELEASE | March 30, 2022
Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Girard, L.)
WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Louis V. Girard, 20, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 28, 2022.
In the summer of 1943, Girard was assigned to the 68th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Girard was serving as a pilot 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. 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.
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.
Girard's personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000LlLyEAK.
---------------------------------
Co-Pilot 1st/Lt. Louis V. Girard KIA DFC
Hometown: West, Tex.
Squadron: 68th BS 44th Bomb Group
Service # O-885283
Awards:Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Pilot Capt. Rowland B. Houston KIA
Target: Ploesti
Missing Air Crew Report Details
Date Lost: 1-Aug-43
Serial Number: 42-40995
Aircraft Model B-24D
Aircraft Letter: C
Aircraft Name: SATAN'S HELL CATS
Location: Crashed near Brazi South of Ploesti. 9 KIA
Cause: ME-109 Only 6 bodies identified.
Lt. Girard was a recipient of the Distinguished flying cross for his participation in the Ploesti raid "Operation Tidal Wave" August 1st 1943. One of the most daring raids of WW2. Coming in at tree top level the 44th BG destroy Romanian oil refineries.
Lt. Wards remains were never recovered.
42-40995 Crew
Captain Rowland B. Houston Pilot
1st/Lt. Louis V. Girard Co Pilot
2nd/Lt. William Scott Navigator KIA
T/Sgt. Stephen F. Sevick Radio Op.
T/Sgt. Joe F. Ward Asst. Radio Op.
S/Sgt. Charles G. Mcmackin Bombardier/Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Clyde W. Carlton Gunner
S/Sgt.Walter B. Schoer Gunner
S/Sgt.Walter B. Schoer Gunner
S/Sgt. Milford L Spears Gunner
*** ACCOUNTED FOR *** PRESS RELEASE | March 30, 2022
Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Girard, L.)
WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Louis V. Girard, 20, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 28, 2022.
In the summer of 1943, Girard was assigned to the 68th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Girard was serving as a pilot 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. 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.
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.
Girard's personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000LlLyEAK.
---------------------------------
Co-Pilot 1st/Lt. Louis V. Girard KIA DFC
Hometown: West, Tex.
Squadron: 68th BS 44th Bomb Group
Service # O-885283
Awards:Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Pilot Capt. Rowland B. Houston KIA
Target: Ploesti
Missing Air Crew Report Details
Date Lost: 1-Aug-43
Serial Number: 42-40995
Aircraft Model B-24D
Aircraft Letter: C
Aircraft Name: SATAN'S HELL CATS
Location: Crashed near Brazi South of Ploesti. 9 KIA
Cause: ME-109 Only 6 bodies identified.
Lt. Girard was a recipient of the Distinguished flying cross for his participation in the Ploesti raid "Operation Tidal Wave" August 1st 1943. One of the most daring raids of WW2. Coming in at tree top level the 44th BG destroy Romanian oil refineries.
Lt. Wards remains were never recovered.
42-40995 Crew
Captain Rowland B. Houston Pilot
1st/Lt. Louis V. Girard Co Pilot
2nd/Lt. William Scott Navigator KIA
T/Sgt. Stephen F. Sevick Radio Op.
T/Sgt. Joe F. Ward Asst. Radio Op.
S/Sgt. Charles G. Mcmackin Bombardier/Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Clyde W. Carlton Gunner
S/Sgt.Walter B. Schoer Gunner
S/Sgt.Walter B. Schoer Gunner
S/Sgt. Milford L Spears Gunner
Suggested edit from FAG Contributor: usafdo (48612389)
*** ACCOUNTED FOR *** PRESS RELEASE | March 30, 2022
Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Girard, L.)
WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Louis V. Girard, 20, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 28, 2022.
In the summer of 1943, Girard was assigned to the 68th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Girard was serving as a pilot 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. 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.
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.
Girard's personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000LlLyEAK.
---------------------------------
Co-Pilot 1st/Lt. Louis V. Girard KIA DFC
Hometown: West, Tex.
Squadron: 68th BS 44th Bomb Group
Service # O-885283
Awards:Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Pilot Capt. Rowland B. Houston KIA
Target: Ploesti
Missing Air Crew Report Details
Date Lost: 1-Aug-43
Serial Number: 42-40995
Aircraft Model B-24D
Aircraft Letter: C
Aircraft Name: SATAN'S HELL CATS
Location: Crashed near Brazi South of Ploesti. 9 KIA
Cause: ME-109 Only 6 bodies identified.
Lt. Girard was a recipient of the Distinguished flying cross for his participation in the Ploesti raid "Operation Tidal Wave" August 1st 1943. One of the most daring raids of WW2. Coming in at tree top level the 44th BG destroy Romanian oil refineries.
Lt. Wards remains were never recovered.
42-40995 Crew
Captain Rowland B. Houston Pilot
1st/Lt. Louis V. Girard Co Pilot
2nd/Lt. William Scott Navigator KIA
T/Sgt. Stephen F. Sevick Radio Op.
T/Sgt. Joe F. Ward Asst. Radio Op.
S/Sgt. Charles G. Mcmackin Bombardier/Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Clyde W. Carlton Gunner
S/Sgt.Walter B. Schoer Gunner
S/Sgt.Walter B. Schoer Gunner
S/Sgt. Milford L Spears Gunner
*** ACCOUNTED FOR *** PRESS RELEASE | March 30, 2022
Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Girard, L.)
WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Louis V. Girard, 20, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 28, 2022.
In the summer of 1943, Girard was assigned to the 68th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Girard was serving as a pilot 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. 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.
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.
Girard's personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000LlLyEAK.
---------------------------------
Co-Pilot 1st/Lt. Louis V. Girard KIA DFC
Hometown: West, Tex.
Squadron: 68th BS 44th Bomb Group
Service # O-885283
Awards:Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Pilot Capt. Rowland B. Houston KIA
Target: Ploesti
Missing Air Crew Report Details
Date Lost: 1-Aug-43
Serial Number: 42-40995
Aircraft Model B-24D
Aircraft Letter: C
Aircraft Name: SATAN'S HELL CATS
Location: Crashed near Brazi South of Ploesti. 9 KIA
Cause: ME-109 Only 6 bodies identified.
Lt. Girard was a recipient of the Distinguished flying cross for his participation in the Ploesti raid "Operation Tidal Wave" August 1st 1943. One of the most daring raids of WW2. Coming in at tree top level the 44th BG destroy Romanian oil refineries.
Lt. Wards remains were never recovered.
42-40995 Crew
Captain Rowland B. Houston Pilot
1st/Lt. Louis V. Girard Co Pilot
2nd/Lt. William Scott Navigator KIA
T/Sgt. Stephen F. Sevick Radio Op.
T/Sgt. Joe F. Ward Asst. Radio Op.
S/Sgt. Charles G. Mcmackin Bombardier/Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Clyde W. Carlton Gunner
S/Sgt.Walter B. Schoer Gunner
S/Sgt.Walter B. Schoer Gunner
S/Sgt. Milford L Spears Gunner
Inscription
1 LT 68 BOMB SQ 44 BOMB GP (H) TEXAS
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Texas.
Family Members
Other Records
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
