Willard Richard Best
Military ROLL OF HONOURKU-2795 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147897029
Shot down by fighters and crashed at Lindenthal in B-17 #42-31771. Killed in Action (KIA). Until 2019, Staff Sergeant Willard Best had been listed as Missing in Action (MIA) and memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium. A rosette has been placed next to his name there, after his identification by the DPAA : On September 3, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Willard R. Best Jr., missing from World War II.
Staff Sergeant Best, who entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Illinois, served with the 407th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy). He was the top turret gunner aboard a B-17G Flying Fortress (serial number 42-31771) that carried nine crew members on a bombing mission against enemy targets at Merseburg, Germany. During the mission, the B-17G was damaged by enemy aircraft, causing it to crash in the vicinity of Lindenthal, Germany. Four crew members survived, were captured, and were eventually returned to U.S. custody. The other five crew members, including SSG Best, were killed in the crash. Their remains were buried at the Leipzig-Lindenthal Cemetery, Germany. During American Graves Registration Command recovery operations in the Lindenthal area in 1945, three sets of remains were recovered from the Lindenthal Cemetery, with one set identified as the bombardier from this incident. The other two sets of remains were not immediately identified and were designated as unknown remains. These remains were reprocessed in 1947 and were determined to actually consist of three unique sets of remains. They were still unidentifiable and were interred as unknown remains in St. Avold Cemetery and Margraten Cemetery (today, Netherlands American Cemetery). In 2017, DPAA officials disinterred these unknown remains and based upon laboratory analysis and circumstantial evidence, separated and identified S/Sgt Best from among them. [see https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XlepEAC ]
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14128278
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32427602
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator / Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-765649
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 11031475
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13106566 and O-712584
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Available - Exciteable
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 24 August 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Staunton, Macoupin County, Illinois, United States | 10 April 1920 | |
Enlisted |
15 March 1943 | Peoria, Illinois | |
Other listed as Missing In Action (MIA) |
24 August 1944 - 3 September 2019 | remains identified in September 2019 | |
Buried |
Buried at the Leipzig-Lindenthal cemetery, Germany | ||
Other |
brought back to the United States, Willard Best's remains will be re-interred at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Staunton, Illinois | ||
Decatur, Macon County, Illinois |
Revisions
Recovery of Sgt Best's remains in 2019 : https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XlepEAC
Added a "-" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8213 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database