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Franklin P. Hall worked on a farm.

He joined the Air Corps of the Regular Army at Camp Blanding, Florida, on 8 August 1941.

The airplane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft.

According to the only survivor, Tail Gunner S/Sgt Richard A. Mayhew, the plane came apart at the waist in the air. It was on fire after it hit the ground. He believed two men were in the plane when it hit the ground, although he only had seen two parachutes.

He recalled also: "As we approached the target again, Lt. Spelts called the bombardier, telling him that we were on course, and he should open the bomb bay doors and take over the ship. The bombardier then said, 'We are on target! Bombs away.' At that moment I saw five or so Focke-Wulf fighters, or as we called them “Goering's Yellow Bellies,” chasing in. I yelled, 'Fighters! Fighters! Six o’clock low.' The sound of their gunfire rang through the aircraft from the under side. The ball turret gunner, Sgt. Reedy screamed, 'I’m hit. I’m hit.' The fighters passed and made a curve to the right and returning from above, gave fire, which killed our top turret gunner. S/Sgt Hall, the radioman, yelled, 'Hydraulic fluid is spraying over my face.' Then the navigator, Lt. Goodnow, said, 'I’m hit. The bombardier is dead. My God, we’re going down.' Lt. Spelts’ voice came through, 'Abandon the…' That was all. The radio intercom had gone out. At that time, I looked back into the waist position and saw the gunners, Sgt Gooden and S/Sgt F. P. Hall, putting on their parachutes."

The other nine crew members were recovered, six as unknown, and were buried at the cemetery of Poix-de-Picardie.

Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Équennes-Éramecourt. None of the investigations uncovered any leads regarding the disposition of Hall’s remains. He was declared non-recoverable on 1 March 1951.

DPAA historians have been conducting ongoing research into Soldiers missing from combat around Équennes-Éramecourt and found that X-391 St. Andre (X-391) and X-393 St. Andre (X-393), buried in Normandy American Cemetery, could be associated with S/Sgt Hall. X-391 and X-393 were disinterred in April 2018 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis where it was later determined the remains of X-393 belonged to Hall.
To identify Hall’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

S/Sgt Hall’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

S/Sgt Hall was buried on 21 January 2024 at Lone Oak Cemetery in Leesburg, Florida