4/19/2023 0 Comments B 24 bomber crew positionsThe team conducted 69 days of excavation operations in search of World War ll pilot 1st Lt. Lazar Karakashev, a local witness, emotionally recalls details of the crash as he tells the team, “together we will find him, and together we will return him home to his family.” Karakashev was a crucial part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s (DPAA) mission to Rodopi, Bulgaria, July 24, 2017. Ogramic was born in Bosnia and moved to the United States at age 15 to avoid the series of conflicts that broke out in the Balkans during the 1990s. Vedran Ogramic, an Air Forces in Europe-assigned logistics airman, as a translator. The organization recovers fallen service members from World War I and World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, among other conflicts.ĭuring the search for Crouchley, the team relied on Air Force Master Sgt. The team works to account for missing military personnel and return their remains to surviving family members. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency organized the search and recovery mission for Crouchley’s remains in 2017 and positively identified them in September 2018. DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation. Crouchley, who went down with his B-24 Liberator, the “Miss Yankee Rebel” 73 years ago. Matthew Byrne, complete digging operations as part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s (DPAA) mission to Rodopi, Bulgaria, July 20, 2017. Kristen Baker, Scientific Recovery Expert (SRE), and U.S. After earning his pilot wings, he was assigned to the 828th Bombardment Squadron, 485th Bombardment Group, out of Foggia, Italy. They pulled the pilot from the aircraft and gave him a proper burial, including placing a cross over his grave.Ĭrouchley first enlisted in in the U.S. Though the dead pilot was technically their enemy, as Bulgaria was aligned with the Axis powers until September 1944, the villagers had respect for the dead. (Courtesy photo)įortunately, Crouchley’s crash was witnessed by local villagers in Churen, Bulgaria. Just one month later, he paid the ultimate sacrifice for his country when his aircraft was shot down over Bulgaria when he and his crew were returning from a bombing mission over Romania June 28, 1944. Crouchley was assigned to the 828th Bombardment Squadron, 485th Bombardment Group, Foggia, Italy, and went into combat in May 1944. Crouchley, kneeling, second right, and his crew pose for a photo by their B-24 Liberator, “Miss Yankee Rebel” in 1944.
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