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FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Elton L. Gomillion, a Soldier killed during World War II, will be interred Sept. 14 at Lake Grove Cemetery, Iola, Texas. Nobles Funeral Home, Navasota, Texas, will perform graveside services preceding the interment.
A native of Iola, Gomillion was an engineer assigned to the 409th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. He was aboard a B-24 Liberator bomber when it crashed Aug. 1, 1943, after being hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. Gomillion’s remains could not be identified following the war – he was 22 years old. Remains that could not be identified were buried as unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan cemetery for identification. More than 80 unknowns could not be identified and were interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium. The remains were exhumed again by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in 2017 and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.
Gomillion was accounted for by the DPAA March 30, 2023, after his remains were identified using anthropological, mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA analysis.
His name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery in Impruneta, Italy, 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 Tech. Sgt. Gomillion, go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3477058/airman-accounted-for-from-wwii-gomillion-e/
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 Nobles Funeral Home, 936-825-7776.
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| Date Taken: | 09.08.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.08.2023 11:27 |
| Story ID: | 452976 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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