2 Lt Donald Durand, P-38 pilot, 20th FG, MIA since 1944

[DavidIsby]

Press Release | April 10, 2026
Airman Accounted For From World War II (Durand, D.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Donald L. Durand, 25, of Stockton, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 28, 2025.
Durand's family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In early 1944, Durand piloted a P-38-J-10LO “Lightning” assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group. On Feb. 4, was reported missing in action after failing to return from a bomber escort mission to Mainz, Germany. Another pilot in Durand’s squadron reported witnessing an anti-aircraft artillery round hit the left engine of Durand’s aircraft, causing it to smoke and slowly descended over Liège, Belgium. There was no report of Durand bailing out or the aircraft crashing. His remains were not accounted for following the war.
In 1946, the American Graves Registration Command was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In August 1947, an AGRC investigator visited 13 towns in the vicinity of Liège to search for Durand’s remains. The investigator interviewed officials and visited cemeteries but failed to locate the crash site or any information regarding Durand’s disappearance. Lacking evidence that he survived the crash or became a prisoner of war, the War Department issued a presumptive finding of death for Durand.
In 1989, a construction crew in Eupen, Belgium, discovered P-38 wreckage and human remains approximately 20 miles east of where Durand’s aircraft was last sighted. The U.S. Army Memorial Affairs Activity, Europe took possession of the remains but were unable to positively identify them. In 2005, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, predecessor organization to DPAA, accessioned the remains into its laboratory for analysis but were still unable to associate them with any specific loss. In 2024, historical and scientific staff at DPAA conducted renewed research and forensic analysis and determined that a correlation between the remains and Durand was possible.
To identify Durand’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis and mitochondrial genome sequencing data.
Durand’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Hombourg, Belgium., along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Durand will be buried on April 13, 2026, in Santa Nella, California.
Source: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Photo: Findagrave.com

[Teresa Maria]

Rest in peace.