Laurence Meidl was killed in Action on 18 March 1944, on a mission to Villaorba, Italy, while flying as Ball Turret gunner on B-17 Flying Fortress 42-29584. It was Laurence's 40th mission with the 2nd Bomb Group/429th Bomb Squadron. He had flown his first one on 22 November 1943 and flew on 7 different Fortresses, with 7 different pilots. He was on his second mission with Pilot Clifford Magnusons on 18 March 1944 when their aircraft was jumped by enemy fighters, who attacked the right wing and cockpit, causing the B-17 to become ablaze. While the crew were bailing out, Meidl was seen at the escape hatch, either afraid to jump or struggling with the door, when the aircraft was hit by another shell. After escaping the aircraft, other members of the crew were told by Yugoslavian villagers that they had found Meidl's body.

A website (in Serbo-Croatian), where the case of “Sad Sack” is reported from pages 55 to 59, with a photo of “Sad Sack” and one of its crews on page 59 :

http://docplayer.si/188066835-Strmoglavljena-zavezni%C5%A1ka-letala-na-…

A Google translation of part of that text mentioning Laurence Meidl (with some corrections by ED-BB) :

"Janez Jerman, the then authorized commander of national protection for the Cerknica area, was among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident. A good six hundred meters away from the wreckage of the plane, he came across a part of an American uniform, which made him pay attention. When he got closer, he noticed that he was basically an American aviator, who was completely buried in the soft swampy ground. Janko Leben also testified about the discovery of the dead aviator, which was written by Matija Žganjar in his work. The testimonies differ slightly: while Jerman writes that he had (found) a pilot, Leben recalls that the airman probably jumped without a parachute. Jerman further recalls that he and his brother, a Notranjska detachment fighter, pulled the body out of the ground and found that apart from the injuries he had suffered on the hard landing, he was not injured. Leben recalls differently: "I noticed a large wound on his back, he was probably hit in the air by an enemy anti-aircraft grenade."

Based on the identification card that the victim had around his neck, the American was identified. The fighters of the Notranjska detachment then arranged for the funeral. The deceased was buried in the cemetery in Žerovnica, the funeral was attended by a huge number of locals and partisans, who set up an honor guard and accompanied him with an honorary rifle volley. The funeral was led by the pastor Janez Jalen, a well-known Slovenian writer. After the war, the Allied Commission exhumed the body and transported it to Belgrade.

Jerman's account of he and his brother trying to find the reason why the dead airman did not use his parachute (at first concluded that it might have been possible for the parachute not to open.) But they found later that that was not the case. When they opened the parachute, they found that it was working normally. “I gave the parachute to my brother to make camouflage clothes out of. He later told me that this is what he did."