x
Breaking News
More () »

Remains of World War II vet from Nashville on 'Hell's Fury' bomber to return after 70 years

Turner was on a bombing raid aboard "Hell's Fury" that was on a bombing mission in Amsterdam, but was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery near Schiphol.

After 74 years of being missing, a Nashville-area veteran from World War II will finally return to Music City.

The state Department of Veterans Services announced Monday that U.S. Army Staff Sgt. William Turner of Nashville, who was presumably killed on Dec. 13, 1943 along with five other American crew members, was recently identified and will be returned to Music City.

His remains are scheduled to return to Nashville International Airport on Tuesday morning. A funeral is planned for next week.

Turner was on a bombing raid aboard "Hell's Fury" that was on a bombing mission in Amsterdam, but was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery near Schiphol.

The raid was a massive one, including 219 B-26 bombers that left from Essex, England and targeting Schiphol Aerodrome, an airport used by the Germans during the war. The airport still is fully functioning.

Turner was just 20 at the time of the mission, an aerial engineer assigned to the 555th Bomb Squadron, 386th Bomb Group and was a crew member of “Hell’s Fury” B-26 bomber.

The remains of six crew members were recovered, but only two crew members were able to be identified between 1946 and 1949, according to a release from the state. Unidentifiable remains from that crash and another crash were buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 29, 1951.

In 2007, the Royal Netherlands Army Recovery and Identification Unit (RIU) excavated the crash site and recovered more remains. American agencies used DNA and anthropology analysis to identify the remains.

State officials praised Turner's service.

“William Turner was among the bravest American heroes to fight for our country in World War II,” Gov. Bill Haslam said in a release. “We are grateful that he will be laid to rest on Tennessee soil and his family will have the closure and certainty of truly knowing his final resting place.”

“It is encouraging to see so many unanswered questions finally resolved to the benefit of surviving family members,” state Veterans Services Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder said.

Haslam has declared a day of mourning and ordered flags at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Tuesday, Aug. 22 in Turner's honor.

Graveside service will be at the Nashville National Cemetery at 1420 Gallatin Pike S, Madison, at 10 a.m. (CDT) on Aug. 22.

Turner is survived by his cousins Linda Tinsley of Murfreesboro, Jeff Kemper of Smithville, and Rita Williams of Cottontown.

Jake Lowary covers veterans and military affairs for the USA Today Network. Reach him at 931-237-1583 or follow him on Twitter @JakeLowary.

Before You Leave, Check This Out