Remains of World War II Soldier, Dallas native, to be buried in Saltillo, Texas

Courtesy Photo | The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. David M. Lewis, a Soldier killed during World War II, will be interred July 16 in Saltillo, Texas. Lewis was piloting a B-24 Liberator aircraft Aug. 1, 1943, when it crashed 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 20 years old.  

FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

07.12.2023

Story by Fonda Bock 

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. David M. Lewis, a Soldier killed during World War II, will be interred July 16 at Old Saltillo Cemetery, Saltillo, Texas. West Oak Funeral Home, Sulphur Springs, Texas, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Lewis was assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. He was piloting a B-24 Liberator aircraft Aug. 1, 1943, when it crashed 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. Lewis was 20 years old. His remains could not 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.

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 were 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 Soldiers from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses, sending the remains to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.

Lewis was accounted for by the DPAA May 11, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence as well as anthropological, mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome DNA and autosomal 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 2nd Lt. Lewis, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3032525/pilot-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-lewis-d/

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 West Oak Funeral Home, [phone].


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• Date Taken: 07.12.2023
• Date Posted: 07.12.2023 09:45
• Story ID: 448959
• Location: FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US