Assigned to 569BS, 490BG, 8AF USAAF. 22 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Leipzig in B-17 42-39953 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' 29-May-44; Shot down by fighters. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 5313





Awards: AM (2OLC), PH.

 

First Lieutenant Meyer entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Missouri and served in the 569th Bombardment Squadron, 390th Bombardment Group. On May 29, 1944, he was the bombardier on a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-39953) with a crew of ten that took part in a bombing mission against enemy targets near Leipzig, Germany. During the mission, the plane was damaged by enemy fighters, caught fire, and fell out of formation. Six men succeeded in parachuting from the stricken bomber before it crashed near Horst, Brandenburg, Germany. They later returned to U.S. custody. Witnesses saw one crew member attempt to bail out from low altitude, but his parachute did not deploy, and the man was killed. His remains were buried in a civilian cemetery and later recovered. 1LT Meyer was one of three crew members whose remains were not recovered at the time. In July 2012, an investigation team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a DPAA predecessor organization, found the crash site and recovered evidence of a B-17 crash. In 2019, the DPAA contracted a private organization to excavate this crash site. The team recovered material evidence and traces of human remains. These materials were then transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established an association between these remains and the three unaccounted-for fliers from the aircraft, including 1LT Meyer.

Today, First Lieutenant Meyer is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium. His name will be marked with a Rosette to signify that his remains have been found