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2nd Lt Donald L. Durand enlisted in Sacramento, California, on 21 February 1941.

Statement of 1st Lt Russell G. Quinn:
"I was flying #4 in Yellow Flight at 21,000 at 1300 o'clock when I saw Lt Durand on single engine with right prop feathered. He was at about 15,000, just above overcast. I notices light flak breaking around his ship. He then disappeared and called on RT, saying he was in overcast. After this, I saw him flying in and out of clouds round top of overcast. About this time, I saw one burst of flak hit his left engine, which started to smoke. He then turned slowly left approximately 160 degrees and started a gradual descent through an opening in the clouds. Plane seemed to reach bottom of overcast and then started a slow spiral counterclockwise. He may have bailed out, but I saw no chute. This was in the vicinity of Liège, Belgium."

The mission took place on 4 February 1944. Lt Durand was officially declared dead on 18 September 1945.

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. A rosette has been placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Lt Durand was given his final resting place on 13 April 2026 the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella, California.