Courtesy Photo | A marker at the Florence American Cemetery that named the deceased whose bodies were...... read more read more
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NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev.--On October 10, 2024, the United States honored Sergeant Frank J. Seiferheld, a World War II Airman from the 99th Bombardment Group, with reburial in Arlington National Cemetery along with a stone bearing his name for the first time since his sacrifice on January 20, 1945.
Frank J. Seiferheld was born in Brooklyn, New York on Jan 25, 1919, to parents Francis (a World War I veteran) and Rose Seiferheld. He grew up with an older brother, George, and a younger sister, Rita. After completing two years of high school, Frank volunteered for the U.S. Army and joined the Quartermaster service at Fort Shafter, Honolulu, Hawaii, where his older brother served as well.
Frank later returned to New York and married Pauline Carson on January 8, 1942, before enlisting again two weeks later. In the fall of 1944, both Sergeant Frank J. Seiferheld and Sergeant George F. Seiferheld, served with the 384th Bombardment Squadron, part of the 99th Bombardment Group. Today, the 99th Bombardment Group’s heritage is continued by the 99th Air Base Wing.
Sergeant Seiferheld flew 11 missions with the 99th Bombardment Group between November 5, 1944, and January 20, 1945, with five different crews in nine different aircraft as the ball turret gunner.
The 99th Bombardment Group launched Mission 329 on January 20, 1945, from Tortorella Airfield located outside Foggia, Italy. The mission targeted an oil refinery in Regensburg, Germany, more than 500 miles away. At 1125, the pilot of Seiferheld’s B-17 radioed that his #2 engine was leaking oil and he intended return to base.
The pilot declined fighter escort and planned to use the clouds for cover during the return trip, but the plane never landed at Tortorella Airfield. Although a Missing Air Crew Report was filed on January 22, 1945, no search was made for the plane nor it’s 10 occupants.
On February 15, 1945, an Italian living in Grado, Italy along the Gulf of Trieste buried the remains of Lieutenant Raymond A. Sunderlin, one of the crewmembers aboard Seiferheld’s B-17. Near Trieste, Italy, two Italian sailors recovered the body of another crew member, Lieutenant Robert J. Brine, sometime prior to 1948.
The two recoveries lead the American Graves Registration Service to conclude that B-17, serial number 46268, had crashed into the Gulf of Trieste. Post-war searches led to the recovery and identification of several other crew members: Lieutenant Harry R. Hathaway, Lieutenant Robert W. Allen, and Staff Sergeant Robert F. Richmond, all of whom perished on January 20, 1945. Several other remains were recovered and transferred to the Florence American Cemetery, but these remains were not identified.
In 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed remains from Unknown X-83 in the Florence American Cemetery for transport back the United States. Utilizing dental records and DNA analysis, the DPAA identified those remains as Sergeant Frank J. Seiferheld, accounting for him, more than 79 years after his sacrifice on February 12, 2024. Sergeant Seiferheld was buried at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C., the final resting place of more than 400,000 active-duty service members, veterans, and families as well as U. S. Presidents. Arlington National Cemetery may be best known for the Tomb of Unknown Soldier, but thanks to the ceaseless efforts of the DPAA, Sergeant Seiferheld’s grave now bears his name.
Colonel Jason J. Glynn, commander of the 99th Air Base Wing, and Colonel Joshua D. DeMotts, previous commander of the 99th Air Base, honored the family of Sergeant Frank J. Seiferheld with a telephone call and personal letter.
| Date Taken: | 10.21.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.21.2024 15:54 |
| Story ID: | 483590 |
| Location: | NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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