After 80 years, a Florida WWII veteran’s remains are finally coming home

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — In January 1944, U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Franklin P. Hall served as a gunner in the 66th Bombardment Squadron as World War II still raged across Europe.

However, the then-21-year-old airman’s time aboard the B-24D Liberator “Queen Marlene” was cut short when German forces shot his plane down near Équennes-Éramecourt, France, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPPA).

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The DPAA said the Germans found nine sets of remains at the crash site, including Hall’s body, but his remains were not accounted for after the Allies defeated the Nazis.

Hall’s remains remained in a cemetery in Poix-de-Picardie for decades, with the post-war investigation declaring him non-recoverable on March 1, 1951, without any leads to find him.

However, as the years rolled by, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency determined that a set of remains found in the Normandy American Cemetery were possibly related to Hall. In 2018, these remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory.

There, scientists used anthropological techniques and DNA analysis to identify Hall’s remains. On July 13, 2023, the DPAA finally declared that Hall was found.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Sunday, the 80th anniversary of Hall’s death, he will finally be buried in his hometown of Leesburg, Florida.

To celebrate the return of Hall’s remains to his home state, DeSantis directed that the Florida state flag be flown at half-staff at the Lake County Courthouse in Tavares and the City Hall of Leesburg in the staff sergeant’s honor.

The flags will remain at half-staff from sunrise to sunset.

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