embassy events 2008
Search for Missing Americans
2 July 2008
American researchers, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Cory Damm and U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer John Gray, of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) will be conducting investigations at various locations in Poland from July 7-31 on nine cases related to missing U.S. servicemen from World War II. DPMO is one of several Department of Defense agencies responsible for the research, investigation, analysis, recovery, and identification of remains of U.S. servicemen who died on a foreign battlefield and never returned home. The researchers hope to find documentary evidence or witness testimony that will lead to the recovery of these individuals.
The researchers also intend to make contact with local officials concerning the targeted cases, setting up meetings to look at local or church records and interview any witnesses who may have knowledge of the incidents in question. The following is an outline of the cases that the researchers will be investigating:
1. A United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) officer was shot down in a B-17G by anti-aircraft fire in the vicinity of Politz: According to German records, the officer was buried near Szczecin. DPMO conducted research in the area in the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007. On both occasions, investigators located a cemetery, which is in a state of disrepair but were unable to locate the gravesite.
2. Ten crew members on board a B-17 were shot down by German aircraft and crashed into the Baltic Sea. One crew member was killed in the crash, and captured German records indicate that his body was recovered from the sea near Kolobrzeg. The German records did not indicate however, where his remains were buried. According to the Kolobrzeg cemetery records, a different crew member was buried in the churchyard Karlsberg near Kolobrzeg. The American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) recovered this airman from the Karlsberg cemetery and later identified him. They were unable to locate any other graves or ascertain information pertaining to any other crew member. The team will visit the Karlsberg cemetery, search cemetery and local records, and interview witnesses in the Kolobrzeg area to seek additional information on the location and fate of the nine missing crew members.
3. Two USAAF enlisted men who were crew members on a B-17 that was shot down over Mosina: During their descent, the crew was strafed by fighters and fired upon by Soviet ground troops, during which time both men were supposedly killed. The remaining crew members were captured by soldiers of the Soviet ground forces, who informed the pilot that two members of his crew had been killed, and that they would be given a proper military burial. They also showed the pilot personal effects from the two crewmen to further confirm their deaths. AGRS searched two cemeteries in the area but was unable to locate their graves. DPMO has conducted no overseas research on these cases. The team will search for local burial records and interview available witnesses.
4. Four USAAF officers who served on board a B-17 that went down near Wroclaw: After the war, AGRS located the crash site and identified the plane but could not determine the whereabouts of the four missing airmen. The team will interview witnesses and search for local records pertaining to this case.
