FINNERAN; JOSEPH E
UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES
WORLD WAR II
MA
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank 1st Lt
Service Number O-661605
Location Rumania
Date of Loss 8/01/1943
Unit 345 BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON 98 BOMBARDMENT GROUP (HEAVY)
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XexHEAS

On August 9, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of First Lieutenant Joseph Edward Finneran, missing from World War II.

First Lieutenant Finneran entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Massachusetts and was a member of the 345th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), known as the "Pyramidiers." On August 1, 1943, 1LT Finneran was the bombardier aboard a B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-40102, nicknamed "Old Baldy") carrying ten crew members and flying in support of Operation TIDAL WAVE, a large-scale bombing mission against the oil refineries at Ploiesti, Romania. During the mission, 1LT Finneran's plane was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed near the target. 1LT Finneran and the other nine crew members were killed in the incident. Four crew members' remains were identified after the incident, but 1LT Finneran's remains were not among them. After the war, the Romanian government recovered the remains of U.S. service members killed in the Ploiesti bombing raid, and those remains determined unidentifiable were buried as unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery (now Bolovan Cemetery), Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania. In 1947, one set, believed to be an American killed in the Ploisti air raid in 1943, was exhumed from Bolovan Cemetery for processing at the Central Identification Point, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium. These unknown remains were later interred at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Belgium. In 2017, advances in forensic techniques prompted the reexamination of this set of unknown remains, and analysts identified them as 1LT Finneran.

First Lieutenant Finneran is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery in Impruneta, Italy.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/1932576/airman-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-finneran-j/

Press Release | Oct. 18, 2019

Airman Accounted For From World War II (Finneran, J.)

WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Joseph E. Finneran, 22, of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 9, 2019.

(This identification was initially published Aug. 13, 2019.)

In the summer of 1943, Finneran was a bombardier assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), known as the Pyramidiers. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24D aircraft on which Finneran served crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation Tidal Wave, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. Of the Americans killed, only 27 could be identified, not including Finneran. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel. The teams disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. One set that could not be identified was designated Unknown X-5300 Neuville, and reinterred into the American Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium.

In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation Tidal Wave losses. On Aug. 28, 2017, Unknown X-5300 Neuville was disinterred and sent to the laboratory for analysis.

To identify Finneran’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission and to the U.S. Army Regional Mortuary- Europe/Africa for their partnership in this mission.

For family information, contact the Army Service Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

Finneran will be buried Nov. 9, 2019, in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,652 service members still unaccounted for from World War II, of which approximately 30,000 are assessed as possibly recoverable. Finneran’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.

Joseph E Finneran