Leesburg WWII soldier buried Sunday 80 years after his death

LEESBURG, Fla. – A World War II soldier for Leesburg got a hero’s welcome home procession and was buried with full military honors Sunday, 80 years after he was killed in action.

Staff Sgt. Franklin P. Hall was 21 years old when he was assigned to the 66th Bombardment Squadron. He was a left waist gunner on board a B-24D Liberator when his plane was attacked by the Germans on Jan. 21, 1944. According to the U.S. Army Air Force, German forces recovered nine sets of remains from the crash site and buried them in a French cemetery.

Recent efforts to identify remains from World War II using advanced DNA testing and research allowed the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to identify Hall’s remains with 95% probability on July 13, 2023.

Hall still has family members in Central Florida. His nephew, Jeffery Hester, spoke to News 6 in December about how much the discovery of his uncle’s remains means to his family.

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]

“I just wanna go shake my mom’s grave and tell her,” Hester told News 6′s Emily McLeod. “That would be the great part... My wife was really into it, too, and she passed, and I have two grave markers to shake. It’s good. It’s a good story. It is full circle and also, I think if it’s right, the Jan. 21 burial will be 80 years on the dot to when his plane went down.”

[STORY CONTINUES BELOW]

Hall’s body has been lying in state at Beyers Funeral Home and Crematory. On Sunday afternoon, a Hero’s Highway Welcome Home procession transferred Hall’s remains from the funeral home in Lady Lake to Lone Oak Cemetery in Leesburg. Hall was buried with Full Army Military Honors.

Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: