Two More Are Home
DPMO has announced the identification of one US MIA from World War II and another US MIA from the Korean War.
- SSgt. Gerald V. Atkinson, 358th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force, US Army Air Forces was lost 10 April 1945 north of Berlin. He was accounted for 20 June 2014. SSgt. Atkinson will be buried with full military honors 16 August 2014 in Chattahoochee, FL.
- MSG Lawrence O. Jock, A Battery, 955th Field Artillery, 8th US Army, was lost 14 July 1953 in North Korea. He was accounted for 25 June 2014 – appropriately, also the 64th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. MSG Jock will be buried with full military honors 1 August 2014 in Malone, NY.
Welcome home, my elder brothers-in-arms. Rest in peace.
. . .
Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,890 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from recovered remains against mtDNA from a matrilineal descendant can assist in providing a positive ID for those recovered remains.
Unfortunately, JPAC has recently reorganized their web site and no longer seems to provide by-name lists of the MIAs for whom there is a need for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). So if you have a relative that is still MIA from World War II, Korea, or SEA – please consider reading this JPAC fact sheet to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.
If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample and have a relative from World War II, Korea, or SEA who is still MIA, please contact JPAC (there is an 866 number on the flier linked above) and see if they already have a mtDNA sample for your missing relative. If not, please arrange to submit a sample. By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.
Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.
Category: No Longer Missing
Welcome home, brothers. Rest in Peace.
Re: Atkinson, Gerald V.
“One aircraft, #44-8427 Henn’s Revenge, piloted by 2Lt. Robert I. Murray, with a crew of nine was lost. It was hit by the attacking ME-262s coming in on the tail of the missing aircraft. It burst into flames between the No. 3 and No. 4 engines, held course for very few seconds, then peeled slightly up and slid over and down to the right through the formation, apparently out of control, and crashed at Oranienburg. No parachutes were seen.”
Source: Mission Report 10 April 1945;
http://www.303rdbg.com/358murray.html
http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/357.pdf
B-17G #44-8427 Henn’s Revenge CR-L
P Murray, Robert I., 2Lt KIA
CP Fries, Lawrence L., 2Lt KIA
NAV Smith, Harold S., F/O KIA
TOG Hammarlund, Carl O., S/Sgt KIA
ENG Brunale, Vito J., S/Sgt POW
RO Bates, Theodore A., S/Sgt KIA
BT Rodock, Nicholas, Sgt KIA
TG Rennie, Robert P., Sgt KIA
PAS Atkinson, Gerald V., Sgt KIA
Atkinson was 22 when he flew on the final mission of the Henn’s Revenge. By the way, Henn’s Revenge was named in honor of the aircraft’s tail gunner, Thomas Henn, who was wounded on an earlier mission.
Rest in Peace.
Welcome home brothers. May God rest you in peace in your home soil now. God bless and keep your families.
Re: Lawrence O. Jock
Lawrence O. Jock was from Jefferson County, New York (Watertown-Fort Drum area) and was born in 1915. He was 38 when he became a casualty and was certainly of age during World War II. I wonder whether he served in that war too. I’m guessing he did, given his age and rank in 1953 but I cannot determine. His funeral and burial will occur in Malone (a place sacked by the British during the War of 1812) which is in Franklin County, New York, and home to a few folks named Jock. Perhaps one will stop by here in fill us in. He had a life, given in service. I wish we could learn more about each of the Fallen, never forgotten.
Welcome home.
From a grateful nation who never forgets its war dead…RIP.
Welcome Home Brothers. May you rest in peace, and your families find some peace as well in your return home.
Never Forget!
SSG Atkinson is from my hometown.RIP