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THIS IS A TRULY UNIQUE AND
MOVING EXPERIENCE

Please read the very interesting, touching back story below:

Staff Sergeant Franklin P Hall
US Army Air Force

Left Waist Gunner aboard a B-24D Liberator “Queen Marlene”

In January 1944, Hall was assigned to the 66th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in the European Theater. On January 21, Hall, a left waist gunner on board a B-24D Liberator Queen Marlene, was killed in action when his plane was attacked by German air forces near Équennes-Éramecourt, France. German forces quickly found the crash site and recovered nine sets of remains, which were then interred in the French cemetery at Poix-de-Picardie. Hall’s remains were not accounted for after the war.

Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Équennes-Éramecourt. None of the investigations uncovered any leads regarding the disposition of Hall’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable on March 01, 1951.

However, the current efforts to identify Staff Sergeant Hall’s remains stems from the DPAA’s long-term research and field investigations of aircraft crashes in France. In late 2018, DPAA historians determined that five American B-24 bombers crashed within 40 km of the Poix Cemetery where Hall’s remains were recovered and transferred to the Normandy American Cemetery in France.

In late 2018, the DoD and ABMC (American Battle Monuments Commission) exhumed Hall’s remains from the Normandy American Cemetery to Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for forensic analysis. It was determined, by historical evidence and advanced DNA testing with research and discovery of potential family members in Florida, that DPAA was able to conclude with a 95% probability that the recovered remains are of Staff Sergeant Franklin P Hall.   Hall’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, Nupre, Belgium, along with others still missing from WW II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. 

Hall was born in Leesburg, Florida and graduated from Leesburg High School.  He entered into the U.S. Army on August 8, 1941 at Ft. Blanding in Starke, Florida. He served with the 66th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group, Heavy (H), in the European Theater during WW II. Staff Sergeant Hall was killed in action on a mission to bomb a V-1 installation in Ecalles-sur-Buchy, France.

Staff Sergeant Hall’s remains will lie in state on Saturday, January 20th, 2024 from 10 AM to 2 PM at Beyers Funeral Home & Crematory, 1123 W. Main Street, Leesburg, and on Sunday, January 21st, also from 10 AM to 2 PM at Beyers Funeral Home & Crematory, 134 N Hwy 27/441 in Lady Lake.

The public is invited to come to pay their respects, sign a guest register, and receive a flag to display at the Welcome Home Hero’s Highway and at the graveside service.

A Hero’s Highway Welcome Home procession is planned for Sunday, January 21st, 2024 starting at 2 PM (Corvettes choosing to participate must be at Beyer's by 1:00pm to be included) from Beyers Funeral Home & Crematory, 134 N Hwy 27/441 in Lady Lake, processing south on Hwy 27/441 through Lady Lake and Fruitland Park to Leesburg. The procession will turn right off of S Hwy 441 onto S. Canal Street in Leesburg to W. Main Street, then turn right on Main Street through downtown Leesburg and proceed west to Thomas Road, then turn right to the entrance to Lone Oak Cemetery.

His graveside service will take place on Sunday, January 21st, 2024 at 3:00 PM at Lone Oak Cemetery in Leesburg, Florida with Full Army Military Honors.