World War II pilot from Bountiful accounted for nearly 80 years after death on warfront
, Jr. of Bountiful, Utah, was just 22 when he was killed on the war front. Wilson was one of nine crew members flying on a B-17G Flying Fortress that took off on a bombing mission on July 8, 1944.
That bomber, which Wilson was piloting, was struck by anti-aircraft fire before it went down near Monchy-Cayeux, France. Surviving crew members of the crash reported Wilson had been hit by flak and was still on board when the aircraft crashed.
Starting in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater. AGRC had received information from Wilson's crew members detailing the crash, but there was no evidence that the crash site was ever visited. None of the recovered Unknowns – or World War II soldiers who have not been identified – were ever associated with Wilson, and he was declared 'non-recoverable' in 1951.
However, in July 2018, a member of Wilson's family provided the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) with new information about the crash site. One of Wilson's family members traveled to France and met with witnesses who remembered the crash. The very next year, DPAA investigators visited the crash site.
That investigation found a wreck they said was consistent with a B-17 bomber, which was then recommended for excavation. The first excavation was completed in 2021, with a second excavation being completed in 2022. All evidence from both excavations was then sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
Lt. Wilson was finally accounted for in November 2024 after a thorough anthropological analysis as well as analysis of mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome DNA, and autosomal DNA.
Lt. Wilson's name is listed among those on the Walls of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. To indicate that he has finally been accounted for, a rosette will be placed next to his name.
The DPAA also alerted Wilson's family to his identity and recovery. His remains will be transferred to Utah where he will be buried in a Bountiful cemetery in July 2025.
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