TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo native killed during World War II has been accounted for nearly 80 years after his death, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Jack W. Coy, a U.S. Army Air Force staff sergeant, was 20 years old when he was shot down over the skies of Germany in early 1944.
On Feb. 24 of that year, Coy, assigned to the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in the European Theater, was a tail gunner onboard the B-24J "Liberator" when his plane was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Gotha.
The plane was sent into a dive before eventually exploding on the ground. Two crewmembers did survive, but the other six crewmembers, including Coy, were unaccounted for following the war.
After the crash, German troops were said to have recovered the remains of Coy at the crash site documented north of Leimbach Bahnhof near Bad Salzungen, Germany and buried them in a local cemetery.
In March 1952, the American Graves Registration Command, an organization dedicated to finding fallen American personnel in the European Theater, took custody of the remains believed to be Coy's and moved them to Ardennes America Cemetery in Belgium.
Then in June 2021, DPAA historians along with American Battle Monuments Commission personnel exhumed Coy's remains from the Belgium cemetery and transferred them to a lab for analysis and identification.
Scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis to identify Coy's remains. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner also helped identify the remains using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
DPAA said that Coy's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium and a rosette will be placed next to his name to show that he has been accounted for.
According to the agency, Coy will be buried in Oregon, but a date has yet to be determined. For family and funeral information, you can contact the Army Casualty Office at 800-892-2490.