Funeral for 2nd. Lt. Walter B. Stone (World War II)
This February, DPAA announced that it had accounted for 2nd. Lt. Walter B. Stone, US Army Air Forces. 2nd. Lt. Stone was lost in France on 22 October 1943.
2nd. Lt. Stone will be buried later this week – on Saturday, 11 May 2019, in Andalusia, Alabama. Regrettably, DPAA does not seem to have posted the specific location for his funeral or interment.
If any TAH readers have the precise location for either 2nd. Lt. Stone’s funeral or interment, please post it in comments below. And if any readers are in that area and have the time, here’s an opportunity to give someone lost during World War II a proper final send-off.
Category: Blue Skies
Welcome home, LT Stone. May the road rise to meet you and be always at your back.
US Army Air Forces, Europe 1943? Not familiar with the European theater time frame as I am the Pacific but im sure there is a story there. Either way, welcome home Lt. Stone. Peace and closure to your family finally.
https://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2019/05/04/headed-home-service-planned-for-wwii-pilot-shot-down-in-france/
A service will full military honors is planned for 11 a.m. on Sat., May 11, at Pleasant Home Baptist Church. Lt. Stone’s remains will be laid to rest in the family plot, where his mother placed a memorial to him. It reads, “In memory of Lt. Walter B. Stone, pilot of P-47 Thunderbolt, 350 Fighter Sqdn., 353 Fighter Gropu, May 8, 1919, Reported missing over N.W. France, Oct. 22, 1943.”
Rest in Peace.
Welcome home Brother. Rest in peace now.
Here is a little information I found. He’s coming into my hometown, Pensacola. I plan to be there. I also plan to be at his funeral on Saturday. I will post information re his funeral as soon as I come across it.
“He will arrive in Pensacola on Thurs May 9 at 4:35 pm.” He is coming into the airport.
“The escort will exit the airport and turn right on 12 Ave to Langley turn right again past by the north side of the airfield to Scienic Hwy and then turn left to the interstate and then head east to the Holt exit and then onto Andalusia.”
Thanks to all for honoring comments.
“Remains Of Missing WWII Pilot To Be Returned Home May 5, 2019 The recently identified remains of Army pilot killed in World War II will be returned home his week for a proper burial. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Walter B. Stone of Andalusia, AL, was killed in 1943. Several of his relatives reside in North Escambia. His remains will be flown into the Pensacola Airport on Thursday and escorted to his hometown for a funeral service on Saturday. In October 1943, Stone served as a pilot in the 350th Fighter Squadron, 353rd Fighter Group, VIII U.S. Fighter Command. On Oct. 22, 1943, Stone was killed when his P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed in northern France during a bomber escort mission. Because France was enemy-occupied territory at the time of the crash, search and recovery operations were not possible. In 1990, a French excavation group, called Association Maurice Choron (AMC,) carried out a limited excavation of the site in the forest near La Wattine, France, where Stone was believed to have crashed. Aircraft wreckage that matched Stone’s aircraft was located and a field investigation was recommended. In April and May 2017, a DPAA Recovery Team excavated a site based on information from a local resident. During the excavation, an identification tag for Stone was located, as well as remains. The remains were sent to the laboratory for identification. In 2018, in a contract with the University of Wisconsin, the site excavation was completed, with additional remains consolidated with the previously located remains. He was officially accounted for on February 20, 2019. Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,731 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Stone’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.” Welcome home, Brother. You have been… Read more »
Welcome home, Lt. Rest in peace.