BOISE, Idaho — A missing Idaho World War II pilot will make his way home, after being identified by his family this year.
The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (DPAA) announced in a news release on Thursday that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan W. Knepper, 27, of Lewiston, was killed in World War II and has officially been accounted for as of Aug. 10, 2023.
Knepper was found and identified in 2023, but his family recently received the full briefing and has made funeral arrangements.
Allan W. Knepper will be laid to rest in Lewiston on Aug. 2, 2024.
During World War II, Knepper was a pilot for the 49th Fighter Squadron, who worked in the Northern Africa and Mediterranean Theater of the war, Thursday's news release said.
On July 10, 1943, Knepper departed from Tunisia in this P-38 "Lightning" as he was assigned, like many other fighters, to attack enemy forces near Caltagirone, Italy. In an effort to obstruct Axis powers movements, U.S. air forces were dispatched every 30 minutes throughout the day.
Knepper's squadron was met with heavy anti-aircraft fire and another pilot witnessed Knepper's aircraft veer suddenly skyward before rolling halfway over and plummet to the ground, the news release said.
It was believed that Knepper never deployed his parachute, as there were no accounts of that. It was believed that he went down with this plane. Knepper's remains were not recovered, and he was declared missing in action at that point.
DPAA researchers began looking into Knepper's case - and located a German report at the U.S. National Archives, dated July 10, 1943. The report stated that two American "Lightning" aircrafts were shot down and crashed both west and southwest of Caltagirone.
Between 2015 and 2023, the Department of Defense (DOD) and their partners researched, investigated, and excavated a crash near that site in Caltagirone. They recovered material evidence and remains that they believed to be associated with Knepper. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for examination and identification, the news release continued.
DPAA states that to identify Knepper's remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as some circumstantial evidence. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome DNA, and autosomal DNA analysis.
Through all of that research, they were able to identify Allan W. Knepper. He has been recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, which is an ABMC site in Nettuno, Italy. He is alongside other still missing WWII fighters. A rosette will be placed next to Knepper's name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Knepper will be buried in his hometown later this summer.
To reach out to the family or for more funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
DPAA said they were grateful for the American Battle Monuments Commission, and the U.S. Army Regional Mortuary-Europe/Africa for their partnership in the mission. DPAA extends gratitude to Bob Richardson and Salvo Fagone for their research assistance.
Furthermore, DPAA wants to also extend gratitude for the efforts of their partners, Cranfield University, University of Illinois at Chicago, American Veterans Archaeological Recovery, and Geoscape Services Limited, who each helped in excavating the site and recovered evidence that was given to the DPAA.
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