Memorial

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The airplane was attacked by enemy fighters. It dropped out of formation with #3 engine afire and the left aileron and wing damaged. It began to fall behind formation but was, at that moment, still under control. It crashed and sunk in a marsh.

Lt Meyer was last seen by the co-pilot crawling around in the nose of the ship, probably looking for his parachute.

Six crew members survived and were taken prisoner, four men were killed.

Bodies recovered from the crash were believed to have been buried in a local cemetery.

The American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was charged with recovering the remains of fallen service members in the European Theater following the war. They were able to find the remains of one of the crew members buried in a cemetery in Horst during a search in September 1946. After 1950, worsening diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, who controlled this part of Germany at the time, prevented the AGRC from investigating further. Meyer was declared non-recoverable on April 21, 1953.

In July 2012, an investigation team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a DPAA predecessor organization, found the crash site and recovered evidence of a B-17 crash. In 2015, DPAA received permission from the land-owner to excavate. DPAA contracted History Flight, Inc. to excavate the site, which they did between 17 July and 12 August 2019. They recovered possible material evidence and possible remains, which were first turned over to the local authorities and then sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for scientific analysis.

To identify Meyer’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 19 September 2022 that 1st Lt Melvin B. Meyer was accounted for on 9 September 2022.

Meyer’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Meyer will be buried in St. Louis, Missouri on a date yet to be determined. (information added January 2023).