World War II Honoree

Alfonso Orlando Duran

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

El Rito, New Mexico

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Sergeant. He was inducted into the United States Army September 22, 1942 at Santa Fe, New Mexico. After the completion of Boot Camp, he was accepted into the Flight Aviation Training Program. Served as a Nose Gunner in a B-24J ‘Liberator’ Bomber in the European Theater of Operations. His unit was based at the Grottaglie Army Air Base in Italy, assigned to the 724th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group; Fifteenth Air Force, Army Air Forces. Reported missing in action Friday, February 25, 1944 when his bomber group was dispatched to destroy an Isarc-Albes railroad bridge in northern Italy. His aircraft was shot by enemy anti-aircraft ground fire, while entering the target area, and crashed in the area of Ljubljana-Slovenia, Yugoslavia. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Florence American Cemetery in Via Cassia, Italy. After the cessation of hostilities in Europe, a Quartermaster Graves Registration Company, Quartermaster Corps conducted recovery operations in Italy, and his remains were not recovered. In 2016, a team from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Agency excavated the crash site, recovering remains, American military gear, and other artifacts. The remains were transferred to the Agencies laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, where he was identified. The family of this Airman received his remains for burial. He was laid to rest with Military Honors, August 22, 2018 at the Santa Fe National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This American Patriot received the following decorations posthumously: Air Medal and the Purple Heart. The Air Medal awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. The Purple Heart was awarded for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.