Kentucky State Seal

*OFFICE OF GOVERNOR ANDY BESHEAR*








*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*




*Contact:  *

 

*Crystal Staley*
*502-545-3714*
"[email protected]"

*James Hatchett
502-330-1722
*"[email protected]"






*Gov. Beshear Recognizes Sacrifice of Kentucky Pilot Killed in World War II
  *

*FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 28, 2025)* – Gov. Andy Beshear recognizes the sacrifice of an Army pilot from Kentucky who was killed during World War II but who was not accounted for until June 20, 2024, and whose family was not fully briefed on the identification until earlier this year.

“We owe a debt to those who are working so diligently to identify our unknown heroes from past wars,” said Gov. Beshear. “While it is heartbreaking to learn about the loss of this pilot in the Second World War, it is also healing to be able to finally bring him home.”

U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Joe A. De Jarnette, 24, of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, was assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater in the spring of 1944. On April 8, De Jarnette, the pilot on board a B-24H “Liberator,” "Little Joe", was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany. Airmen aboard other aircraft flying in formation with "Little Joe" did not report seeing any crewmembers exiting the aircraft before it crashed in the vicinity of Salzwedel. The crash site could not be located by Allied forces during the war, and the remains of all ten crewmembers, including De Jarnette, were unaccounted for following the war.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) [ [link removed] ], the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the Salzwedel and Wistedt areas of Germany. German forces had maintained accurate documentation ("Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen", or KU) of American aircraft shoot-downs, with several reports indicating B-24s crashing in the area. However, AGRC was unable to associate any KU reports with "Little Joe" and investigators were unable to locate any crash or burial sites associated with the loss.

In 2015, an independent research group, Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team (MAACRT), contacted historians from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or DPAA, with new information related to a possible crash site near Wistedt, Germany. Interviews with elderly local residents indicated there were two crash sites, but only one was recovered by American forces following the war. Investigators located the second crash site and were able to recover various pieces of wreckage. Possible osseous remains were also located and transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. At the time, no matches could be made with any “Unknowns,” and further investigations were scheduled.

Between 2021 and 2023, DPAA investigators returned to the crash site and continued investigation, followed by excavations and recoveries. By the end of November 2023, all evidence, including possible osseous remains and possible life support equipment, had been recovered and returned to the DPAA laboratory.

To identify De Jarnette’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and dental analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System [ [link removed] ] used mitochondrial DNA analysis.

De Jarnette’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

De Jarnette will be buried in Erlanger, Kentucky, next month.

Gov. Beshear will order flags lowered to half-staff in honor of De Jarnette on the day of interment.

*###*






TEAM KENTUCKY [ [link removed] ]

Questions? Contact us [ [link removed] ]

Facebook [ [link removed] ]   Twitter [ [link removed] ]   Instagram [ [link removed] ]   YouTube [ [link removed] ]   GovDelivery [ [link removed] ]

SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Manage Subscriptions [ [link removed] ]  |  Unsubscribe All [ [link removed] ]  |  Help [ [link removed] ]

View or Share Online [ [link removed] ]





________________________________________________________________________

This email was sent to [email protected] using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Governor of Kentucky · 700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100 · Frankfort, KY 40601 GovDelivery logo [ [link removed] ]