Memorial

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S/Sgt Clifford E. Keeney was a weaver before he enlisted in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on 28 November 1942.

The airplane feathered one engine and left the formation about half way between the target and Frankfurt, shortly after the formation was attacked by fighters. the pilot looked for a suitable place for an emergency landing but the aircraft lost altitude very rapidly, hit a chimney on a house and crashed at 12.45 hrs at the railway line on point 184,8.

Only one crewmember had time to jump before the crash.One crew member was taken prisoner, eight were killed. They were all buried at the cemetery of Neustädt-Werra.

According to the report of an investigation in January 1950, the remains of all the crewmembers were recovered by the 3046th QM Unit from this cemetery on 3 and 4 June 1945 and transferred to Margraten. At that time, the remains of only one crewmember was interred by name. A new investigation at Neustädt could not be conducted due to the political situation in the area since this town layed in the Russian occupied zone of Germany.

In 1991, a resident digging a grave in the Neustädt cemetery discovered a U.S. military identification tag belonging to one of the aircraft's crew members, along with parachute remnants. The resident was interviewed years later, but unfortunately German burial laws prevented disturbance of the site for at least 20 years after a modern burial had taken place. In September 2008 a recovery team excavated the area and discovered possible remains and material evidence, which was sent to a DPAA laboratory for analysis, and resulted in the identification of four of Keeney's crew members. From May to June 2024, a DPAA recovery team returned to the area and continued excavation of the Neustädt cemetery, finding possible remains and life support equipment, after which all recovered evidence was transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for forensic analysis. Based on the laboratory analysis and total circumstantial evidence, a set of the recovered remains were identified as those of Keeney.

Funeral arrangements are pending (information added January 2026).

He is remembered at the Christ Church Methodist Cemetery of Jacobus, Pennsylvania.