Remains of World War II Soldier, New York City native, buried in Arlington National Cemetery

Courtesy Photo | The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. John M. Carroll, an Airman killed during World War II, were interred June 13, at Arlington National Cemetery. Carroll was a radio operator serving aboard a B-24 Liberator bomber 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.  

FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

07.19.2023

Story by Fonda Bock 

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. John M. Carroll, an Airman killed during World War II, were interred June 13, at Arlington National Cemetery. Everly-Wheatley Funerals and Cremation, Alexandria, Virginia, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.

A native of New York City, Carroll was a radio operator assigned to the 328th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. He was serving aboard a B-24 Liberator bomber 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. 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. Carroll was 32 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 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 Airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses, sending the remains to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.

Carroll was accounted for by the DPAA Aug. 23, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence as well as dental, anthropological, 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 Tech. Sgt. Carroll, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3139270/airman-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-carroll-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 Everly-Wheatley Funerals and Cremation, [phone].


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• Date Taken: 07.19.2023
• Date Posted: 07.19.2023 09:45
• Story ID: 449526
• Location: FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US