World War II Veteran
Hughesville, PA
Inducted: April 1943
Killed in Action: over Austria
Sgt. FRANK ALVIN FRANTZ, Replacement "Wells Cargo" Gunner**
Frank Frantz was born June 30, 1918 in Hughesville, Pennsylvania, and lived in Lycoming County until leaving for his Army service. An only child, he grew up on his parents' farm. He was musically inclined and played a few different instruments including the harmonica. After three years of high school, Frank trained as a welder and worked for Carey McCall Co., a manufacturer of Venetian blinds and other window treatments. On Christmas Day 1938 he married Margaret Speary, and the two worked together at the Carey McCall factory. He enlisted in April 1943 and trained in Texas and Idaho. Frank arrived in Manduria on April 30, 1944 as the tail gunner on a new crew flying the "Sweet Chariot." As a replacement gunner three weeks later, on May 24 he would go down with "Wells Cargo." It's unclear what position Frank manned on his final mission, but his body was found in the wreckage of the main fuselage along with pilot Jack Wells and radio operator Buck Balentine; Frank may have been flying as the ball turret gunner or manning the nose turret at the time the plane went down. He was buried on May 27 in the community cemetery at Veitsch, a few miles from the crash site. His remains were recovered by American forces in 1948 and returned home for burial in Muncy, Pennsylvania. Frank was survived by his wife Margaret and a son born three months after Frank died
World War II Veteran
Hughesville, PA
Inducted: April 1943
Killed in Action: over Austria
Sgt. FRANK ALVIN FRANTZ, Replacement "Wells Cargo" Gunner**
Frank Frantz was born June 30, 1918 in Hughesville, Pennsylvania, and lived in Lycoming County until leaving for his Army service. An only child, he grew up on his parents' farm. He was musically inclined and played a few different instruments including the harmonica. After three years of high school, Frank trained as a welder and worked for Carey McCall Co., a manufacturer of Venetian blinds and other window treatments. On Christmas Day 1938 he married Margaret Speary, and the two worked together at the Carey McCall factory. He enlisted in April 1943 and trained in Texas and Idaho. Frank arrived in Manduria on April 30, 1944 as the tail gunner on a new crew flying the "Sweet Chariot." As a replacement gunner three weeks later, on May 24 he would go down with "Wells Cargo." It's unclear what position Frank manned on his final mission, but his body was found in the wreckage of the main fuselage along with pilot Jack Wells and radio operator Buck Balentine; Frank may have been flying as the ball turret gunner or manning the nose turret at the time the plane went down. He was buried on May 27 in the community cemetery at Veitsch, a few miles from the crash site. His remains were recovered by American forces in 1948 and returned home for burial in Muncy, Pennsylvania. Frank was survived by his wife Margaret and a son born three months after Frank died
Family Members
Other Records
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
