World War II Honoree

William H. Harth, Jr.

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Columbia, South Carolina

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Second Lieutenant. On February 24, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Army Air Corps at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. After the completion of Boot Camp, he was accepted into the Flight Aviation Training Program. Served as a Bombardier in a B-24 ‘Liberator’ Bomber, and based at the Gambut Main, Libya Airfield in North Africa. He was assigned to the 329th Bombardment Squadron, Ninety-Third Bombardment Group; Fifteenth Army Air Forces. Reported missing in action Sunday, August 1, 1943 on a bombing mission to the Romania Ploesti Oil Fields and Refineries, Code Named: Operational Tidal Wave. During the low-altitude bombing raid his bomber was hit by German Anti-aircraft ground fire, crashing in the area of Bucharest. Following the mission, Romanian citizens recovered and interred the remains of the American Airmen in the Bolovan Cemetery. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Florence American Cemetery located at Via Cassia, Italy. After the cessation of hostilities in Europe, a Quartermaster Graves Registration Company, Quartermaster Corps conducted recovery operations in Romania. Personnel from the Corps disinterred the remains of the Americans killed in the raid from the Bolovan cemetery. The remains that could not be identified were designated as unknowns, and reinterred in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. A team from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Agency in April of 2017 disinterred an unknown, and transferred the remains to the Agency laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, where he was identified. This Airman was laid to rest with Military Honors, April 6, 2018 at the Fort Jackson National Cemetery in Columbia, South Carolina. He received the following decorations posthumously: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and the Purple Heart. The Distinguished Flying Cross awarded for Heroism or Extraordinary Achievement while participating in aerial flight. Air Medal was 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.