https://wacotrib.com/news/local/history/world-war-ii-flyer-declared-dead-in-1943-to-be-buried-in-west/article_98a2c2f2-d7cb-11ec-b021-53746335db7e.html
I suspect most here will recall that the Ploesti Raid is where Lloyd Hughes, '43, also died, and earned a Medal of Honor for his actions.
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The remains of 1st Lt. Louis Girard will soon make their way home to his family and be interred in West, nearly 79 years after he was lost in battle during World War II, but not too late to give peace of mind for surviving family members.
Girard and his U.S. Army Air Force crew on his B-24 bomber reportedly crashed in Romania during an Allied bombing raid against Axis oil fields near the city of Ploiesti in August 1943, according to records from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing-in-Action Accounting Agency.
The War Department declared Girard dead in fall 1943. The McLennan County native was 20 years old.
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"He left Texas A&M and hitchhiked to Canada to join the Royal Canadian Air Force," Clay said.
An article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from shortly after Girard's parents received notice of his death and information from the POW/MIA agency confirms Clay's account.
Girard enlisted in the RCAF around February 1941, after the U.S. Army Air Forces declined him because he was too young at age 19, according to the article. He completed his pilot training in November that year and became a night fighter pilot, the article states.
Helen and Bud have a portrait photo of Girard in his Canadian uniform.
I suspect most here will recall that the Ploesti Raid is where Lloyd Hughes, '43, also died, and earned a Medal of Honor for his actions.