U.S. Army Service No. (ASN): #32424781
Entered the Service from: New York
724th Bomb Squadron, 451st Bomb Group, Heavy
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Kenneth J. McKeeman is listed as Killed In Action in the 1946 Army and Army Air Forces Personnel Casualty List for Kings County, New York.
***I would like to thank Andy Find A Grave ID 48021049 for adding his photos to this memorial***
***I would like to thank usafdo Find A Grave ID 48612389 for adding their photos and the bio notes below to this memorial in addition to updating the middle name, birth date and birth/death location information as well as linking his father to it***
Remains Identified & Funeral Announcement
https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3742523/airman-accounted-for-from-wwii-mckeeman-k/
Message: PRESS RELEASE | April 16, 2024
Airman Accounted for from WWII (McKeeman, K.)
Washington –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kenneth J. McKeeman, 23, of Brooklyn, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 18, 2023.
In early 1944, McKeeman was assigned to the 724th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater. On March 11, McKeeman, a bombardier onboard a B-24D "Liberator", was killed in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Toulon, France. An eyewitness from another aircraft reported seeing McKeeman's plane on fire and plummeting out of the sky, before eventually breaking apart and crashing into the sea. All 11 crewmembers were killed in the incident. German forces garrisoned in the area documented the crash site near Cape Cépet and recovered several sets of remains, which were then interred them in the Lagoubran Cemetery, France.
Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, exhumed 25 graves from the Lagoubran Cemetery. Among the recovered remains were some of McKeeman's fellow crewmen, and four unknowns designated X-84, X-85, X-86 and X-92 Luynes. These unknowns were ultimately interred in Rhône American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.
In June 2019, DPAA historians and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel, exhumed X-85 from Rhône American Cemetery and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis where it was later determined the remains belonged to McKeeman.
To identify McKeeman's remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
TSgt. McKeeman's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Rhône American Cemetery, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
TSgt. McKeeman will be buried in Middletown, Connecticut, on June 7, 2024.
U.S. Army Service No. (ASN): #32424781
Entered the Service from: New York
724th Bomb Squadron, 451st Bomb Group, Heavy
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Kenneth J. McKeeman is listed as Killed In Action in the 1946 Army and Army Air Forces Personnel Casualty List for Kings County, New York.
***I would like to thank Andy Find A Grave ID 48021049 for adding his photos to this memorial***
***I would like to thank usafdo Find A Grave ID 48612389 for adding their photos and the bio notes below to this memorial in addition to updating the middle name, birth date and birth/death location information as well as linking his father to it***
Remains Identified & Funeral Announcement
https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3742523/airman-accounted-for-from-wwii-mckeeman-k/
Message: PRESS RELEASE | April 16, 2024
Airman Accounted for from WWII (McKeeman, K.)
Washington –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kenneth J. McKeeman, 23, of Brooklyn, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 18, 2023.
In early 1944, McKeeman was assigned to the 724th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater. On March 11, McKeeman, a bombardier onboard a B-24D "Liberator", was killed in action when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Toulon, France. An eyewitness from another aircraft reported seeing McKeeman's plane on fire and plummeting out of the sky, before eventually breaking apart and crashing into the sea. All 11 crewmembers were killed in the incident. German forces garrisoned in the area documented the crash site near Cape Cépet and recovered several sets of remains, which were then interred them in the Lagoubran Cemetery, France.
Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, exhumed 25 graves from the Lagoubran Cemetery. Among the recovered remains were some of McKeeman's fellow crewmen, and four unknowns designated X-84, X-85, X-86 and X-92 Luynes. These unknowns were ultimately interred in Rhône American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.
In June 2019, DPAA historians and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel, exhumed X-85 from Rhône American Cemetery and transferred them to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis where it was later determined the remains belonged to McKeeman.
To identify McKeeman's remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
TSgt. McKeeman's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Rhône American Cemetery, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
TSgt. McKeeman will be buried in Middletown, Connecticut, on June 7, 2024.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
