Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until March 18, 1946.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Son of Mrs. Myrtle L. Parker who resided in Washington, D.C.

Francis served as a Sergeant & Gunner on B-24J #44-41451, 375th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

He resided in the District Of Columbia prior to the war.

He enlisted in the Army on February 26, 1943 at Fort Myer, Virginia. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a linemen and also as Married.

B-24J #44-41451 took off, with a crew of 10 & 1 passenger, from Chengkung, China on a combat sweep over the south China sea.

They were last contacted by radio at 0230 hours and reported they were flying near Mengtez, China, over friendly territory. It is unknown what happened to this B-24 however the entire crew was lost on this mission.

Francis was declared "Missing In Action" on this mission during the war.

He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Service # 33455708

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Airmen who perished on B-24J #44-41451:

Beadle, Duane S ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, MI
Graper, Charles W, Jr ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, PA
Lane, Rudolph L ~ Corp, Gunner, TN
Levin, Stanley A ~ Corp, Radar Observer, PA
Martin, Robert W ~ Sgt, Radio Operator, MA
Parker, Francis D ~ Sgt, Gunner, DC
Pinto, Keith W ~ 2nd Lt, Passenger, VA
Root, Raymond S ~ S/Sgt, Engineer, IN
Rufini, Giocondo A ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, PA
Sterngold, Kingdon H ~ 2nd Lt, Bombardier, NY
Taylor, William C ~ Corp, Gunner, MT

( Bio & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until March 18, 1946.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Son of Mrs. Myrtle L. Parker who resided in Washington, D.C.

Francis served as a Sergeant & Gunner on B-24J #44-41451, 375th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

He resided in the District Of Columbia prior to the war.

He enlisted in the Army on February 26, 1943 at Fort Myer, Virginia. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a linemen and also as Married.

B-24J #44-41451 took off, with a crew of 10 & 1 passenger, from Chengkung, China on a combat sweep over the south China sea.

They were last contacted by radio at 0230 hours and reported they were flying near Mengtez, China, over friendly territory. It is unknown what happened to this B-24 however the entire crew was lost on this mission.

Francis was declared "Missing In Action" on this mission during the war.

He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Service # 33455708

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Airmen who perished on B-24J #44-41451:

Beadle, Duane S ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, MI
Graper, Charles W, Jr ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, PA
Lane, Rudolph L ~ Corp, Gunner, TN
Levin, Stanley A ~ Corp, Radar Observer, PA
Martin, Robert W ~ Sgt, Radio Operator, MA
Parker, Francis D ~ Sgt, Gunner, DC
Pinto, Keith W ~ 2nd Lt, Passenger, VA
Root, Raymond S ~ S/Sgt, Engineer, IN
Rufini, Giocondo A ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, PA
Sterngold, Kingdon H ~ 2nd Lt, Bombardier, NY
Taylor, William C ~ Corp, Gunner, MT

( Bio & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~