The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. Frank C. Ferrel, a Roby native killed during World War II will be returned to his home after being accounted for by the DPAA Jan. 10, 2023, after his remains were identified using anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis. Ferrel will be interred Friday with graveside services performed preceding the interment.
Ferrel’s family members were contacted around six years ago, and while there was some initial excitement about the possibility his remains were identified, little more was heard after family members submitted DNA samples.
“We thought it was going to go pretty quick, but nobody heard anything back,” said Simon Terrazas, Frank Ferrel’s nephew. In 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses.
The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification. “A few months ago, we got a call informing us to confirm Uncle Frank’s ID,” said Terrazas, who was notified in January of the positive identification. “It has taken a long time, but let me tell you, these folks have been great to work with and incredibly respectful every step of the way.”
A native of Roby, Ferrel was assigned to the 328th Bombardment Squadron, 93rd Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. He was serving as an engineer aboard a B-24 Liberator bomber when it was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed Aug. 1, 1943, during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
His remains were not identified following the war. All 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. Ferrel was 31 years old.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command - the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel - disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification but was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns. Those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. Frank C. Ferrel’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 others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
“The family that knew Frank, and who loved and mourned him, are all gone now. It is up to the rest of us, family and fellow veterans and neighbors, to bury his remains,” said Ferrel’s great niece Roenna Thomas, who encouraged and welcomed those who wish to attend the service and pay respects to join the family on Friday.
Tech Sgt. Frank C. Ferrel will be laid to rest alongside his mother at Newman Cemetery in Sylvester this Friday, April 7. Read more about Ferrel and his journey home in next week’s edition of the Chronicle.