FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. James Litherland, a Soldier killed during World War II, will be interred Sept. 9 at Wildwood Cemetery, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. McCarty-Thomas Funeral Home, Montoursville, Pennsylvania, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.
A native of South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Litherland was assigned to the 359th Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy). He was co-piloting a B-17F Flying Fortress when it crashed after being hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire Feb. 28, 1944, during a bombing raid on a German V-2 rocket site in Bois-Coquerel, France. Three airmen parachuted safely before the plane crashed near the city of Le Translay, France – seven other crew members, including Litherland, remained on board. He was 25 years old.
In 1945 investigators reviewing German documents found that six sets of remains recovered near the crash site were buried March 1944 in the English World War I Memorial Cemetery at Abbeville, France. A year later those remains were disinterred and reburied in the United States Military Cemetery at St. Andre, France. The one set that could not be identified was designated as X-452 St. Andre and was eventually transferred to the Suresnes American Cemetery, France.
In March 1947 investigators identified X-452 as being associated with Litherland but were unable to make a positive identification. Litherland was declared non-recoverable Dec. 26, 1950. In October 2019, X-452 St. Andre was exhumed and the remains, along with material evidence and additional remains recovered from the crash site two years earlier, were sent to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base for analysis.
Litherland was accounted for by the DPAA March 16, 2023, after his remains were identified using dental, anthropological, mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA analysis.
His name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium, along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
For additional information about 2nd Lt. Litherland, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3402624/pilot-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-litherland-j/
To learn more about the Department of Defense’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call 703-699-1420/1169.
Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at 800-892-2490 and/or McCarty-Thomas Funeral Home, 570-368-8352.
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| Date Taken: |
09.06.2023 |
| Date Posted: |
09.06.2023 16:35 |
| Story ID: |
452847 |
| Location: |
FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: |
56 |
| Downloads: |
1 |
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This work, Remains of World War II Soldier to be buried in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, by Fonda Bock, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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