19-year-old Pennsylvania airman accounted for from World War II
According to the DPAA, U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John H. Danneker, 19, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who was killed in World War II, was accounted for on December 10, 2024.
The DPAA says Danneker was assigned to the 565th Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater in June of 1944.
Danneker was assigned to be the left waist gunner onboard a B-24J 'Liberator' bomber. On June 20, 1944, Danneker went missing in action when his plane crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark after colliding with another B-24 in the same formation.
The pilot and co-pilot of Danneker's aircraft were able to survive, but evidence pointed to the rest of the crew being killed in the crash. The American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), which was responsible for searching for and recovering fallen American soldiers, investigated the crash but was unable to find any of the missing crewmen. Danneker was declared non-recoverable on May 12, 1950, per the DPAA.
In 2019, Danish divers encountered a WWII-era aircraft wreck in the general area where Danneker's aircraft crashed. The divers alerted the Royal Danish Navy, who found possible human remains and enough evidence to recommend archeological excavation.
Archaeologists, divers, and volunteers from Project Recover returned to the site and found extensive evidence, including remains and ID tags of two crew members. The evidence was turned over to the Danish authorities and the DPAA laboratory.
Scientists from DPAA used dental DNA and anthropological analysis to identify Danneker among the wreckage.
Danneker's name is recorded on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Danneker will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in August 2025. Danneker's family was recently briefed on his identification.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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