*** Cenotaph (marker only, physical remains never recovered) ***
Flight Officer, U.S. Army Air Forces
344th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomber Group, Heavy
WWII
Missing In Action, presumed dead
Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal and Purple Heart.
"In Memory Of" marker only (cenotaph). Flight Officer Packer's remains were never recovered.
On August 1, 1943, Paul co-piloted a B-24 Liberator in the historic low-level, daylight raid (Mission Tidal Wave aka Black Sunday) on Hitler's fuel supply in Ploesti, Romania. Under the command of Colonel John R. Kane (Killer Kane), 344th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces. His crew was flying lead position in the fifth wave for Target White IV, when Paul's aircraft, the VULGAR VIRGIN, was hit by anti-aircraft fire and caught fire over Ploesti, Romania. Flight Officer Packer bailed out upon order of the Captain, Wallace Taylor, and was declared missing in action.
Note: Date on marker shows the "presumptive date of death" as declared by the Department of the Army in 1944 after 1 years absence of information or sighting - based on their rules at the time. In 1948, a few years AFTER his parents placed the marker in their family plot, the date of death was officially changed to reflect an actual date of presumptive death: 1 Aug 1943 - per revisions in the Missing Persons Act.
Paul is also listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
Find A Grave Memorial# 55903194
Flight Officer, U.S. Army Air Forces
344th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomber Group, Heavy
WWII
Missing In Action, presumed dead
Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal and Purple Heart.
"In Memory Of" marker only (cenotaph). Flight Officer Packer's remains were never recovered.
On August 1, 1943, Paul co-piloted a B-24 Liberator in the historic low-level, daylight raid (Mission Tidal Wave aka Black Sunday) on Hitler's fuel supply in Ploesti, Romania. Under the command of Colonel John R. Kane (Killer Kane), 344th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces. His crew was flying lead position in the fifth wave for Target White IV, when Paul's aircraft, the VULGAR VIRGIN, was hit by anti-aircraft fire and caught fire over Ploesti, Romania. Flight Officer Packer bailed out upon order of the Captain, Wallace Taylor, and was declared missing in action.
Note: Date on marker shows the "presumptive date of death" as declared by the Department of the Army in 1944 after 1 years absence of information or sighting - based on their rules at the time. In 1948, a few years AFTER his parents placed the marker in their family plot, the date of death was officially changed to reflect an actual date of presumptive death: 1 Aug 1943 - per revisions in the Missing Persons Act.
Paul is also listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
Find A Grave Memorial# 55903194
*** Cenotaph (marker only, physical remains never recovered) ***
Flight Officer, U.S. Army Air Forces
344th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomber Group, Heavy
WWII
Missing In Action, presumed dead
Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal and Purple Heart.
"In Memory Of" marker only (cenotaph). Flight Officer Packer's remains were never recovered.
On August 1, 1943, Paul co-piloted a B-24 Liberator in the historic low-level, daylight raid (Mission Tidal Wave aka Black Sunday) on Hitler's fuel supply in Ploesti, Romania. Under the command of Colonel John R. Kane (Killer Kane), 344th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces. His crew was flying lead position in the fifth wave for Target White IV, when Paul's aircraft, the VULGAR VIRGIN, was hit by anti-aircraft fire and caught fire over Ploesti, Romania. Flight Officer Packer bailed out upon order of the Captain, Wallace Taylor, and was declared missing in action.
Note: Date on marker shows the "presumptive date of death" as declared by the Department of the Army in 1944 after 1 years absence of information or sighting - based on their rules at the time. In 1948, a few years AFTER his parents placed the marker in their family plot, the date of death was officially changed to reflect an actual date of presumptive death: 1 Aug 1943 - per revisions in the Missing Persons Act.
Paul is also listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
Find A Grave Memorial# 55903194
Flight Officer, U.S. Army Air Forces
344th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomber Group, Heavy
WWII
Missing In Action, presumed dead
Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal and Purple Heart.
"In Memory Of" marker only (cenotaph). Flight Officer Packer's remains were never recovered.
On August 1, 1943, Paul co-piloted a B-24 Liberator in the historic low-level, daylight raid (Mission Tidal Wave aka Black Sunday) on Hitler's fuel supply in Ploesti, Romania. Under the command of Colonel John R. Kane (Killer Kane), 344th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces. His crew was flying lead position in the fifth wave for Target White IV, when Paul's aircraft, the VULGAR VIRGIN, was hit by anti-aircraft fire and caught fire over Ploesti, Romania. Flight Officer Packer bailed out upon order of the Captain, Wallace Taylor, and was declared missing in action.
Note: Date on marker shows the "presumptive date of death" as declared by the Department of the Army in 1944 after 1 years absence of information or sighting - based on their rules at the time. In 1948, a few years AFTER his parents placed the marker in their family plot, the date of death was officially changed to reflect an actual date of presumptive death: 1 Aug 1943 - per revisions in the Missing Persons Act.
Paul is also listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.
Find A Grave Memorial# 55903194
