Remains of World War II Soldier to be buried in North Rose, New York

Courtesy Photo | The remains of World War II Soldier U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. John B. Thomas will be interred May 20, at North Rose Cemetery, North Rose, New York. Thomas was piloting a B-24 Liberator when it crashed Aug. 1, 1943, after being hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. He was just 23 years old.  

FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

05.15.2023

Story by Fonda Bock 

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

Remains of World War II Soldier to be buried in North Rose, New York

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of a Soldier killed during World War II will be interred May 20, at North Rose Cemetery, North Rose, New York. Graveside services for U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. John B. Thomas will be performed by Farnsworth-Keysor Funeral Home preceding the interment.

A native of Rochester, New York, Thomas was assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. He was piloting a B-24 Liberator when it crashed Aug. 1, 1943, after being hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were unable to be identified following the war. Remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania. Thomas was just 23 years old.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command – tasked with recovering fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. More than 80 unknowns could not be identified and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.

In 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses, sending the remains to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.

Thomas was accounted for by the DPAA Sept. 30, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence as well as dental, anthropological, mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome DNA analysis.

His name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site, in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information about 1st Lt. Thomas, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3181070/pilot-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-thomas-j/

To learn more about the Department of Defense’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call [phone]/1169.

Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at [phone] and/or Farnsworth-Keysor Funeral Home, 315-587-2721.


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• Date Taken: 05.15.2023
• Date Posted: 05.15.2023 13:48
• Story ID: 444763
• Location: FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US