Memorial

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2nd Lt Frank A. Johnstone left the University of Texas where he was prominent in athletics to join the Air Corps in 1943 and trained at Ellington and Sheppard fields. He was sent overseas in September 1944.

S/Sgt James F. Tharp:
On 25 February 1945, our group was on a mission to bomb the marshalling yards at Linz, Austria. I was flying as tail gunner ship number 770 in the lead position of the second box in the second attack unit. Lt. O’Sullivan was pilot of B-24J number 44-41188 in number two position of the same box. Just before bombs away Lt O’Sullivans aircraft received a direct flak hit on the nose of the aircraft. The ship slid back, appeared to be cut of control, to the left and almost hit the aircraft flying number six but Lt O’Sullivan managed to get control of the aircraft and peeled out of the formation to the left, and out of my line of vision. When I last saw this aircraft, all four engines were operating, the ship was under control, and there was a large gap on the left side of the nose which was smoking. The altitude was twenty-four thousand feet. The time was 1914. I saw no parachutes leave the aircraft.

He was killed in the nose compartment.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 6 February 2025 that 2nd Lt. Frank Alfred Johnstone is accounted for.

In August 2013, an investigation team from one of DPAA's predecessor organizations traveled to Groβraming to investigate the loss of Johnstone's B-24. They found enough to correlate the site with the aircraft. In July and August 2017, DPAA partner teams from the University of Maryland and University of Vienna began excavation on the crash site and returned the following year to continue excavation in June and July 2018. The team recovered aircraft wreckage, pieces of material evidence, and possible human remains which were all accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis. There, scientists used modern forensic techniques to identify Johnstone.

Funeral arrangments are pending (information added January 2026).

He is remembered at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas.