Name and Rank, 1e Lieutenant Francis E. Akins.
Unit/placed in, 568th Bomber Squadron, 390th Bomber Group (Heavy).
Francis was born on Aug. 11, 1921 in Derry, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
Father, Andrew P. Akins.
Mother, Mary E. (Shrum) Akins.
Sisters, Fidelis, Marie, Bernadette, Loretta, Ann and Janet Akins.
Brothers, Gerald, Charles and Hugh J. Akins.
Wife, Garnett L. (Smith) Akins.
Daughter, Marcia E. Akins.
Francis entered the service from Pennsylvania with service number # O-8188998.
Francis E. Akins rank/duty was a Pilot (B-17) in the 568th Bomber Squadron.
Francis’s crew-members and their position on-board the plane a B-17 were;
1st Lt. Francis E. Akins Pilot
2ndLt. Forrest D. Shaw Co pilot
F-O. Ely Berenson Navigator
2nd Lt. Myron S. Merrill Bombardier
T/Sgt. Marcus L. Shook Radio Operator
T/Sgt. Frank P. Decillis Top Turret Gunner
S/Sgt. George MacPhee Ball Turret Gunner
S/Sgt. Walter P. Shimshock Tail Gunner
S/Sgt. Paul F. Haney Waist Gunner
Sgt. James D. Christy Passenger
Francis E. Akins was Killed in Action in/during on the Mission when the plane was attacked and hit by FLAK, on Sep. 18, 1944, and he is honored with an Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal.
Francis is mentioned/buried at Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, Neuville-en-Condroz, Arrondissement de Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Thanks to http://www.framlingham.co.uk/390th.htm
Jean Louis Vijgen, ww2-Pacific.com and ww2-europe.com.
Air Force Info, Rolland Swank.
ABMC Website, https://abmc.gov
Marines Info, https://missingmarines.com/ Geoffrey Roecker
Seabees History Bob Smith https://seabeehf.org/
Navy Info, http://navylog.navymemorial.org
POW Info, http://www.mansell.com Dwight Rider and Wes injerd.
Philippine Info, http://www.philippine-scouts.org/ Robert Capistrano
National Historian
Navy Seal Memorial, http://www.navysealmemorials.com
Family Info, https://www.familysearch.org
Info, https://www.pacificwrecks.com/
Medals Info, https://www.honorstates.org
Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com
Tank Destroyers, http://www.bensavelkoul.nl/
In 1978, the townspeople of Lomianki, Poland raised money and erected a memorial, to the crew of the “I’ll Be Seeing You” despite threats from the Communist government. The mayor of the town, Lucjan Sokolowski told of how the townspeople watched the plane crash in a courtyard that night, pulled bodies from the wreckage and how they attempted to hide the survivors, only to see them become prisoners of the Germans. Today, the townspeople of Lomianki typically commemorate these brave men on September 18th of each year.
