World War II Honoree
Killed in World War II
Vincent L. Politte
Branch of Service
U.S. Army Air Force
Hometown
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Honored By
Orville L. Kline
Rank: Staff Sergeant. On May 23, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Army Air Corps at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After the completion of Boot Camp, he was accepted into the Flight Aviation Training Program. Served as a Gunner in a B-24D ‘Liberator’ Bomber in North Africa, assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron, Ninety-Eighth, Bombardment Group; Fifteenth Army Air Forces. His unit was based at the Beninia Airfield in Libya, North Africa. Reported missing in action Sunday, August, 1943 on a bombing missing to the Romania Ploesti Oil Fields and Refineries, Operational Tidal Wave. During the raid his bomber, going in at tree top level was struck by German ground machine gun fire, crashing in the area of Bucharest. His name appears in the Tablets of the Missing at the American Cemetery in Florence, Italy. Later his missing in action status was amended to read killed in action. After the cessation of hostilities in Europe, a Quartermaster Graves Registration Company, Quartermaster Corps conducted recovery operations in Romania. The remains that could not be identified were designated as unknowns, and interred at the American Cemetery Florence in Italy. In 2016, a team from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Agency disinterred an unknown. The remains were transferred to the Agency laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, where he was identified. The remains of this Airman were interred with Military Honors, July 30, 2018 at the Leavenworth National Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kansas. He received the following decorations posthumously: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Purple Heart. Distinguished Flying Cross awarded for Heroism or Extraordinary Achievement while participating in aerial flight. Air Medal awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.